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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Cliap.„ Copyright No. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




JQOXUAA. 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 

ALSO 

lln tbe Zenana Ibomee 
of llnMan princea 

AND 

1beroe6 anb Iberoinee 
of Xion 



BEING THE PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS OF A MEDICAL 
MISSIONARY IN INDIA 



By 

S. ARMSTRONG-HOPKINS, M.D. 

FORMERLY PHYSICIAN IN CHARGE TO THE WOMAN S HOSPITAL, DISPENSARY, 

AND TRAINING SCHOOL FOR NURSES, OF HYDERABAD, SINDH, 

UNDER ENGLISH GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENT 




NEW YORK : EATON & MAINS 
CINCINNATI : CURTS & JENNINGS 



18530 

Copyright by 

EATON & MAINS, 

1898. 



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DEDICATED TO 

1Rcv» 'MtUlam XeonacC) Armstrong, /IR.2). 

A tribute pure of filial love 

Unto my honored sire ; 
Who taught my trembling feet to climb, 

My spirit to aspire; 

Who bade me reach a helping hand 

To all whom I might raise 
From darksome paths of sin and vice, 

To tread in wisdom's ways; 

Who bade me speak the truth, nor fear 
What mortal man might say; 
. With soul transparent all, and pure, 
To humbly watch and pray. 



PREFACE 



DEAR FRIENDS, I know I have aone a very 
unfashionable thing in harrowing up your 
feelings by the recital of some heartrending facts. 
Facts, indeed, they are, for each particular case 
which I have cited is a real case. In every instance 
I have had some particular patient in mind, and 
have given you the exact details and history of that 
particular patient ; and yet each of these particular 
patients is but a sample of many similar cases such 
as I treated again and again during my dispensary 
life. I know that returned missionaries love to 
cite instances of natives coming from distant vil- 
lages to the mission inquiring the way of salvation. 
They love to describe revival efforts in country 
towns, where, perhaps, the whole village has been 
brought to the foot of the cross. All this can be 
done. All this is true. The cause of God is making 
wonderful strides in that strange, dark land. I, too, 
could tell of similar cases of conversions from dark- 
est heathendom ; even of Hindu priests who have 
left all and chosen affliction with the people of God 
rather than to continue the worship of idols ; but, 
dear friends, I have chosen to tell you these more 
unpleasant facts. I have done it deliberately and 
''with malice aforethought." At every opportu- 

7 



8 PREFACE 

nity I desire to make known these facts to the 
people of my own country. Why? Because I 
believe in them; I believe in the chivalry of my 
own countrymen. Because I believe in my coun- 
trywomen and in the children of my native land. 
Because I am convinced that the religion of Jesus 
Christ, as professed and lived by the people of this 
blessed country, is not a farce ; is not a mere gar- 
ment intended for Sunday wear, which is put off 
and on at discretion. I believe that you who pro- 
fess to love the Lord Jesus Christ, who have taken 
his name upon yourselves, do partake of his nature 
who left his Father's throne and his Father's house 
and came to earth — the great Medical Missionary — 
to help, and to heal, and to save his people. When 
I was in India, and from day to day witnessed such 
horrible sights, and heard from the pale, trembling 
lips of wee sufferers heartrending stories such as 
I have here depicted, I resolved that, if God spared 
my life and permitted me again to visit my own 
native land, I would raise the purdah of these 
zenana homes ; I would acquaint the people of this 
country with the real condition of the women and 
children of that dark continent. For I am sure 
that you need but for one short hour to gaze upon 
the wretchedness, to look down, as I have looked, 
into the depths of these dark places where women 
and children, in utter helpnessness, crouch in pain and 
woe such as beggar description — that you need only 
to see with another's eyes — in order to stir your Chris- 
tian hearts to do something to relieve ; something 



PREFACE 9 

to save. I believed, and I do believe, that for you 
to know is to do. That you who have felt the thrill 
w^hich comes from the heart of the All Father in 
the secret place of prayer, who have reached up and 
taken hold of the omnipotent hand of God in your 
secret closets, need but to know the facts in order 
to run with swift feet to deliver, in order to reach 
out glad, helping hands to lift up, in order to be 
willing to sacrifice somewhat of your luxuries, 
somewhat of your comforts, somewhat, perhaps, of 
those things which you call the necessities of life, 
in order to do your part toward sending the Gospel 
message to those people who sit in darkness and 
see no light ; remembering that inasmuch as you 
do it unto one of the least of these, you do it unto 
him. 

Do you remind me that I have already confessed 
that medicine and surgery and all that the English 
government can accomplish by establishing great 
hospitals throughout India are of comparatively lit- 
tle avail, and cannot fully meet the needs of these 
people, because the tortures arising from mental 
and spiritual conditions are so much greater than 
any physical suffering? That their customs and 
barbarous practices are so deeply rooted that nothing 
can overthrow them? True ; but, dear friends, I am 
glad to add that there is one remedy — one remedy — 
and only one. It is the blessed Gospel of Jesus 
Christ, and it is sufficient. Send it to them. Send 
out your missionaries with God's word. Let them 
go to these suffering women and children, and tell 



10 PREFACE 

the story of the love of God and of the love of 
Christ for them. Their hearts are aching and 
bleeding and famishing for love. In their lives 
they have never known it; never felt it. They 
have no hope of anything better beyond the grave. 
Send this glad, beautiful message ; send it quickly. 
They will embrace it ; they will receive it ; they 
will forsake all for it. And when once they do ac- 
cept this blessed Gospel message all these shackles 
of superstition, heathen beliefs, prejudices, and 
barbarous practices will fall off, and they will arise 
in all the emancipated freedom and liberty of glad 
children of God. Nothing but this can meet the 
case. God's word is a sufficient remedy. Won't 
you take it? Won't you send it? Won't you sac- 
rifice something in order to do this? O, do it! In 
the name of God Almighty, in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, whom you love and revere, I 
entreat you to send the Gospel to these poor women 
and children, and to send it quickly! 

SINDH 

The gloom that here is found 

Is like to that of Hell ; 
While ghastly specters 'round 

The bravest spirit quell. 
O God, thou Source of light, 

This darkness all dispel ; 
Drive back the heathen's night, 

Till they thy praise shall swell. 

Amen. 



CONTENTS 



BOOK I 

Within the Purdah 
The Native of Hindustan — Attributes and Ciiaracteristics — In- 
correct Statement in Parliament of Religions — Seeming Truthful- 
ness — ^Care for Animal Life Explained — Government Hospitals and 
Equipments — Sindh — Hyderabad — Hospital Building — Patients — 
Caravan Journey — Dispensary Work — Purdah Garment — Baby 
Patient — Flattening the Head — Piercing the Ears and Nose- 
Mother Love— Child Marriage— Unmarried Girls — Betrothals — 
Bangles— Her Husband's Bank— The Mother-in-law— " Tell Me 
the Truth "—The Small-cause Court — The DauglUer-in-law — No 
Real Child Life— The Starving Wife of a Prince—"! Do Not 
Wish to Get Well " 17 

BOOK II 

In the Zenana Homes of Indian Princes 
The Taj Mahal— The Tomb of the Dead and the Tomb of the 
Living Wife — The Zenana Woman and Her Purdah Home— The 
Zenana Woman — Mr. Syed Mohammed, Aide-de-camp to His Ex- 
cellency Nawab Khurshed Jah— Emissaries from His Highness 
Saght Sing, the Maharajah of Bhinai District— From Bombay to 
Ajmere — A Curious Medico-legal Consultation— A Professional 
Visit to the Harem of a Mohammedan Prince— The Nawab's Eu- 
ropean Palace— His Excellency Nawab Khurshed Jah— Her Excel- 

1 1 



12 CONTENTS 

lency the Begam Sahib — Another Strange Medical Consultation 
— The Nawab's Six Palaces — A Diet of Costly Gems — His Excel- 
lency Dewan Luchman Dass, ex-Prime Minister of Kashmir — The 
Wives and Daughter of Dewan Luchman Dass — Mrs. Luchman 
Dass, the Rich Hindu Widow — The Peer — The Peer's Daughter 
— A Prophecy and a Prayer 85 

BOOK III 

Heroes and Heroines of Zion 
Who are They? — The Methodist Missionary of the Parent 
Board — The Servant Question — The Assistant Missionary — The 
Missionary Evangelist — Missionaries of the Woman's Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church — The Mission- 
ary Teacher of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society — The 
Zenana Missionary of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society — 
The Medical Missionary of the Woman's Foreign Missionary 
Society i79 

CONCLUSION 

By the Rev. George F. Hopkins, A.M. 
A Poem , . . . 247 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Saleni Armstrong-Hopkins Frontispiece 

The Punjapole Asylum for Animals 22 

Her Excellency the Countess of Dufferin 25 

A Purdah Carriage, with Curtain Removed 30 

Woman Patient in her Silk Costume 35 

Woman Patient in her Purdah Garment 35 

Wealthy Hindu Bridegroom and his Child-bride 49 

A Little Daughter-in-law Scouring the Degchas 65 

A Young Hindu Prince 73 

A Wealthy Mohammedan Nawab, or Prince 73 

" My Esther," Mrs. Mary Esther Isaac Ilahi Baksh ']'j 

Facsimile of Legal Agreement 97 

Her Highness Sarupkanwar Bai 107 

His Excellency Nawab Khurshed Jah „..„ 117 

His Excellency Dewan Luchman Dass and his Daughter 137 

Mrs. Molie Luchman Dass in her Kashmeri Costume 141 

Mrs. Dalie Luchman Dass in her Punjabi Costume 141 

Rare Trophies 15a 

South India Conference 178 

Butler Preparing Tea 184 

The Ayah „ „ 184 

13 



14 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Three Zenana Missionaries with Servants and Two of Miss 
Levermore's Little Adopted Native Children, and Chung, 

Dena's Son 1 84 

Rev. S. P. Jacobs with the Boys of One of his Native Schools. 187 

An Indian Mud Fire-place with Degcha 194 

Domingo, the Cook , 194 

The New Missionary and her Moonshee 210 

A Mohammedan Moonshee 213 

The Girls' Boarding School of the Woman's Foreign Mission- 
ary Society, Bombay, India 220 

A Wealthy High-caste Zenana Lady of Bombay 227 

A Zenana Missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church and 

her Assistants in Bombay 236 



BOOK I 

WITHIN THE PURDAH 



''And the King shall answer and say unto them, 
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it 
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have 
done it unto me.'' — Matthew xxv, 40. 



3 



BOOK I 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 

THE native of Hindustan — the Hindu, the Mo- 
hammedan, the Parsee, the Eurasian, but, per- 
haps, more particularly the Hindu — has somehow 
acquired a reputation throughout Europe, and 
doubtless in America as well, for possessing by 
nature all those attributes and characteristics which 
we in this Christian land have learned to regard 
as emanating from the Spirit of God alone, and 
which we expect to find more often and more fully 
exemplified in the lives of those who live nearest to 
the Lord Jesus Christ and who partake most of 
his nature. The Hindu is supposed to be, of all 
creatures on earth, the most generous, the most 
kind-hearted, the most gentle, the most sympa- 
thetic, and the most unselfish. After living for 
nearly seven years in India I must tell you that the 
reverse of this is true. The great principle which 
we, as Christians, were taught at our mother's knee 
holds true. Charity, kindness, unselfishness, 
thoughtful consideration for others, love, and ten- 
derness, emanate in large measure from God, and 
from him only, and those who live nearest to him and 
walk most closely in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus 
Christ do most fully exemplify these characteristics. 

17 



18 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

It has been said that among the many languages 
spoken by the peoples of Hindustan there is no such 
word as home, in the sense in which we understand 
it ; that among all the languages spoken there is no 
such word as love, in the sense in which we know it. 
I cannot vouch for the truth of this, as I am not ac- 
quainted with the languages of India, but I do 
know that among all the heathen people of that 
country there is no such place as home, as we un- 
derstand it; there is no such sentiment as love, as 
we feel it. And yet it is not difficult to understand 
how the Hindu has gained the reputation of being 
all that we have mentioned — kind-hearted, gentle, 
loving, etc. 

Those who attended the Parliament of Religions 
at our great Columbian Exposition may have heard 
some educated, proud Brahman declare before the 
civilized nations of the world that the Hindu reli- 
gion is better than the Christian religion, because 
it inculcates such kindness of heart and gentleness 
of nature as to render its follower incapable of 
stretching forth his hand to slay any living creature. 
This same proud Brahman, true to his training in 
deceit and misrepresentation, did not further ex- 
plain why the Hindu refuses to slay even the creep- 
ing thing which crosses his pathway or the deadly 
serpent which imperils his life. At the first glance 
his statement has a seeming truthfulness. There 
is a trite saying to the effect that a half truth, or a 
lie which contains a partial truth, is the worst kind 
of a lie. It is true that a Hindu will not, under 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 19 

arty circumstance, put any living thing to death. 
If you lived in India, and a venomous serpent, 
whose sting is death in twenty minutes — and with- 
out remedy — were to cross your threshold, you 
might call in vain upon your Hindu servant to 
slay that serpent. He would fall at your feet and 
declare his willingness to serve you to the utmost 
of his ability, but would beg you to forgive him for 
refusing to kill the serpent which threatens your 
life. 

There are three explanations of the foregoing 
fact, the first of which seems almost to bear out our 
educated Brahman in his statement concerning the 
superiority of the Hindu as compared with the 
Christian religion. In the religious history of the 
Hindu, after a reign of terror in which the priests 
are said to have ' ' multiplied religious ceremonies 
and made ritual the soul of worship," and when 
** sacrifice assumed still more and more exaggerated 
forms, becoming more protracted, more expen- 
sive, more bloody — a hecatomb of victims was 
but a small offering," came a time when ''the 
tension seemed too great, and the bow snapped. 
Buddhism arose. We may call this remarkable 
system the product of the age — an inevitable re- 
bellion against intolerable sacerdotalism; and yet 
we must not overlook the importance of the very 
distinct and lofty personality of Buddha (Sakya 
Muni) as a power molding it into shape." Buddha 
effected a vast revolution in Indian thought. *' My 
law," said he, " is a law of mercy for all." In the 



20 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

forefront of his religious system he put certain 
great fundamental principles of morality ; he made 
religion consist in duty rather than in rites, and 
reduced duty, for the most part, to mercy and kind- 
ness toward all living creatures. This did away 
with all slaughter of animals. The people, having 
grown weary of priestcraft and ritualism, gladly 
embraced the teachings of this great reformer. 
This religious system was, in fact, a rebound or re- 
action from the excessive cruelties which had pre- 
ceded it. 

The second explanation is found in the fact that 
the Hindu worships a large number of animals, 
and would not naturally be disposed to slay the 
object of his w^orship. It is a common thing to see 
a Hindu doing poojah (worship) to the ants by the 
wayside, and bringing flour or boiled rice with 
which to feed them. They are his gods. He also 
worships the serpent, the monkey, the bull, and 
many other animals. 

The third explanation may be traced as follows : 
The Hindu religion leads its follower to believe 
in the transmigration of souls ; therefore a Hin- 
du will not kill the ant which crosses his path in 
the street, or the deadly serpent, or the venomous 
scorpion, or the rabid dog which has torn the limbs 
of his own child, not because of kind-heartedness 
on the part of this same Hindu, but because by so 
doing he fears he may slay his deceased mother-in- 
law, or great aunt, or second cousin, or some other 
near and dear relative whose spirit is at this time 




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WITHIN THE PURDAH 23 

inhabiting the body of this serpent, scorpion, or 
rabid dog; and for this great crime he may, in 
some future state of existence, be doomed to occupy 
the body of this same creature which he has wickedly 
put to death. 

One of the practical outgrowths of this religious 
belief may be seen in the city of Bombay, in the 
establishment of an asylum or place of refuge 
where all diseased, maimed, decrepit, aged, or 
otherwise dangerous animals may be confined. 
Just as the English government provides places of 
refuge for unfortunate mortals afflicted with lep- 
rosy, cholera, smallpox, and insanity, so have the 
high-caste Brahmans of Bombay established such 
an asylum or hospital for animals. Howxver, 
one can hardly speak of it correctly as either 
an asylum or a hospital, because there is no effort 
made to restore these inmates to health, to prolong 
their lives, or to promote their comfort. It is 
merely a place of banishment where offensive or 
harmful domestic animals are kept until they die, in 
order that no Brahman may be compelled in self- 
protection to put any of these creatures to death, 
and so bring a curse upon his own soul. This same 
Brahman will beat his domestic animals most cru- 
elly starve and torture them in many ways, thus 
exhibiting his lack of kindness. Indeed, you need 
only to acquaint yourself with the inner home-life 
of the Hindu, you need only to pass in behind the 
purdah of his zenana home and behold his conduct 
toward the members of his own household, in order 



24 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

to know for yourself that my first proposition is 
true, and that the Hindu is of all people the most 
cowardly and the most cruel ; for a cruel man is 
always a coward, and a coward is always cruel. In 
order that you may know the Hindu personally, 
become acquainted with the members of his family, 
and understand the principles which govern his 
life, I shall invite you to accompany me to the 
English government hospital of Hyderabad, Sindh. 

You know about the splendid work that has been 
done for India by the English government through 
the efforts of that beautiful woman, the Countess of 
Dufferin, in establishing government hospitals in 
all the great cities of that empire. Beautiful hos- 
pitals they are ; thoroughly equipped with all 
modern improvements, conveniences, instruments, 
and apparatus such as you find in the best English 
hospitals of to-day, having an efficient staff of 
officers — servants, nurses, compounder or druggist, 
clerk, interpreter, house surgeon — and at the head 
of all, the English or American lady physician 
in charge. It was to such a position as this in the 
Woman's Hospital, Dispensary, and Training School 
for Nurses, of Hyderabad, Sindh, that I was called in 
January, 1893. 

Before proceeding further allow me to state that 
most of the fashions, heathen customs, prejudices, 
and barbarous practices which I shall here describe 
are peculiar to the district of Sindh, and would not 
hold true if applied to the people of Bombay, Calcutta, 
Madras, or perhaps to any other people of India. 




Her Excellency the Countess of Dufferin 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 27 

Sindh is a province in the northwestern part of 
British India, having an area of 56,632 square 
miles and, in 1891, a population of 2,900,000. 

Hyderabad is the historical capital of Sindh and 
chief city of that province. It stands three and a 
half miles east of the left bank of the Indus River. 
Its population in 1891 was 58,048, of whom 23,000 
were Mohammedans, the remainder being, for the 
most part, Hindus ; unlike the great native city of 
Hyderabad, Deccan, which is purely Mohammedan , 
and a walled city. 

Our hospital building is a fine brick structure of 
but one story, surrounded by a very deep veranda, 
which is shut in from outside gaze by broad pil- 
lars, with close lattice w^ork intervening, and over 
all the Indian chick — a sort of curtain made from 
split bamboo or reed grass. To this hospital and 
dispensary come patients representing all classes 
and castes, rich and poor, Hindu, Mohammedan, 
and Eurasian. Not only do they come from Hy- 
derabad city, but also from the country villages 
round about, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty miles 
distant. Some of the poorer classes from these 
country villages come walking. I have often seen 
a little frail woman, weak and ill, who had walked 
a distance of forty miles from her country village 
to the hospital — not alone ; one never goes alone 
through the jungles of India. It would not be safe 
to do so on account of the wild beasts which prowl 
about and the many venomous and deadly serpents 
which infest the plains. 



28 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

It generally happens in a country village that 
some peer or wealthy native — one of the aristocracy 
of the place — has a son who is ill. Perhaps he 
would scarcely undertake such a journey for the 
sake of a wife or a daughter, but his son, whose life 
is far more valuable than the life of any woman 
could be, is ill. There are no hospitals in the 
country villages, and no English physicians, or even 
properly educated native doctors. He determines, 
therefore, to make a trip to the government hospital 
at Hyderabad, and forthwith proceeds to gather 
together all the sick people in his village until a 
large company has arranged to make the journey. 
Those who are most ill, sons, wives, and daughters 
of the wealthier members of the community, make 
the journey on camels, while the poorer people, 
men, women, and children, and also, perhaps, a 
large number of strong men, even though of the 
wealthier class, and high caste, will travel on foot. 
It is a great sight to see such a caravan en route 
from some distant village to Hyderabad city. The 
camels, with their slow and measured tread, you 
may see in the distance, marching single file. The 
head camel is ridden by one man, who holds one 
end of a little string not much larger than the cord 
with which your groceries are bound. The further 
end of this string is attached to the outer swell of a 
little wooden nose ring, very much the shape of a 
thread spool with a very thin stem, which passes 
through the right nostril of the great docile beast. 
This nose ring and slender cotton cord serve the 




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WITHIN THE PURDAH 31 

purpose of halter, bridle, and all. A slight tight- 
ening of this cord will indicate to the camel that 
the rider wishes to turn, and a tap on his great 
neck will serve to guide him in the right direction. 
The second camel has a similar nose ring, to which 
is attached a similar cord, this cord being tied to 
the tail of the first camel ; and thus all the twenty- 
five or fifty camels are tied together, noses and 
tails, and all with a string so slender that you would 
think a toss of the head would break it. All the 
camels except the first one described, which leads 
the others, are loaded with the women, children, 
and sick people of the company, while their robust 
friends and neighbors follow after on foot. The 
journey is begun late in the afternoon, as soon as 
the heat of the day begins to abate ; and they travel 
all night, until the morning sun grows so intensely 
hot as to render further travel hazardous to their 
lives. Then, if possible, they find a tree with broad, 
expanded branches, in the shade of which they rest 
until evening, when they start on again. So it is 
that early, early in the morning, often before the 
dawn of day, such a caravan as this arrives at our 
hospital in Hyderabad. At a signal or a word from 
the man who sits upon the first camel all these 
gentle brutes kneel down in the fashion peculiar to 
themselves, slowly lowering the closed carriages, 
or baskets, which are loaded with human freight. 
Then four men — fathers, husbands, or brothers of 
the occupants of this particular carriage — approach 
the second camel, and with two long poles attached 



32 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

to its floor raise it (the carriage) to the level of their 
shoulders, and thus carry it to the great door which 
opens into the deep veranda of our hospital. Here 
they leave it, just outside the threshold, and run 
away and hide themselves, while four of our Chris- 
tian nurses from the hospital go out and carry the 
precious burden inside of the veranda, closing the 
door after them. Here the carriage door is opened, 
and the occupants are taken out and allowed to rest 
on the floor of this great veranda until the hour ar- 
rives for opening the dispensary. When this load 
is properly settled the carriage is put outside the 
door, and other men bring the next carriage in the 
caravan of camels, and so on, until all the camels 
have been unloaded and their occupants deposited 
on our hospital veranda, where they are quite se- 
cluded from public gaze, as before intimated, by 
the broad pillars, close lattice work, and bamboo 
chicks. Of course the hospital is a purdah or 
zenana hospital, no men being allowed inside its 
gates. 

At half past nine o'clock a. m. the physician in 
charge arrives in her carriage, and then the dispen- 
sary work begins. Passing through a large folding 
door in the center of the great front of the hospital, 
we find ourselves in a large and pleasant consult- 
ing room. The ceiling is very lofty, and from its 
center is suspended a huge punkah, which swings 
from side to side, keeping the sultry air in motion 
and rendering the room comfortably cool. The 
members of the hospital staff have arranged them- 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 33 

selves in rows on either side of the space between 
the door and the doctor's table, and bow low in 
respectful salaams as we pass ; afterward standing 
about in their pure white sarees, gracefully draped 
in Indian fashion, respectfully awaiting orders. 
Parina, the native interpreter, a Christian woman, 
stands near by, ready to interpret into English any 
of the many tongues which may be spoken by the 
various patients who have gathered from all direc- 
tions. The side door, leading into the outer hall, 
is opened, and one patient at a time, each taking 
her turn, passes into the clerk's office, where her 
name, approximate age, and any particulars which 
can be gleaned concerning her personal history and 
illness are recorded. These people never know 
the date of their birth, but they approximate their 
age by certain great epochs. This one says, "I 
was so big," indicating a height of two feet, ''at 
the time of the mutiny," and so on. Having regis- 
tered, the patients are admitted, in twos and threes, 
to the consulting room. I shall endeavor to make 
them known to you, one at a time, as they come 
into our presence. 

A tiny woman, not larger than a child of ten in 
this country, makes her way slowly from the clerk's 
office. She is shrouded in her long white purdah 
garment, which consists of a cap about the shape 
of a gentleman's smoking or skull cap, pure white, 
and hand embroidered. Into the lower edge of 
this cap is gathered a full flounce of unbleached 
muslin, which falls to the ground, and even trails 



34 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

about her, being as long in front as behind. Thus 
her entire person is wholly concealed from view. 
If you separate the thick folds near the rim of the 
cap, about where the eyes are supposed to be, you 
will find two small holes in the muslin. They are 
about one inch long and two thirds of an inch in 
width, and are veiled by a close net, something like 
mosquito netting, only of coarser texture. Through 
these tiny openings the patient is supposed to be 
able to see sufficiently to avoid a fall. Of course 
one from without cannot see the face nor even the 
eyes of the patient through these small and closely- 
screened openings. As she comes near our inter- 
preter, with tender persuasion, seeks to remove 
this heavy garment ; but the little patient is timid 
and shrinking, and resists her overtures. At 
length, however, she herself slowly gathers the 
heavy folds together and raises them a little at a 
time, until from underneath she is able to peer 
out and look about. She does this to make sure 
that there are no boys or men folk in the room. 
Later on she is persuaded to allow the nurses to re- 
move this heavy and oppressive garment, and when 
this is done she stands before us in her many- 
colored pure silk garments, which are so gracefully 
adjusted and so artistically arranged, in point of 
coloring and in every other detail, as to render her 
a beautiful picture to look upon. 

So tiny and wan is she, so emaciated and sad of 
face, that you judge her to be the patient ; but your 
mind is presently disabused of this thought, for she 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 37 

steps forward and, unwrapping from the folds of 
her garment an infant, she lays it on the table be- 
fore you. Its arms and legs are tightly bound 
down, stiff and straight, by strong strips of cotton 
cloth. This is the custom throughout the district 
of Sindh. Be it a boy or a girl, be it Hindu or 
Mohammedan, all are thus strapped during the first 
months of their existence ; so that the slight exer- 
cise, relaxation, and rest which an un trammeled 
baby naturally gets from tossing its limbs about is 
denied to infants here. These strips of cloth are 
tied so tightly about the soft, emaciated limbs that 
you can almost bury your finger in the groove caused 
by this pressure. But it is not for this condition we 
are consulted. The child-mother turns the infant 
on its side, and you see that the whole back of the 
head has been crushed until it is quite flat. It is 
swollen, hot, inflamed, and in the center of the 
head, at the back, there is a running sore about the 
size of a silver half-dollar. If you do not know the 
cause of this condition, your interpreter will explain 
that every child born of heathen parents in the 
district of Sindh, boy or girl, Hindu or Moham- 
medan, is, immediately after birth, placed upon a 
solid stone bed. Its head rests lower than its 
trunk, and in order that the child may not slide off 
headwise and be injured a little ledge is arranged 
as a headpiece. During the day, every two or 
three hours, some member of the father-in-law's 
family, with the strong palm of the hand, presses 
the soft, mobile little head against this hard stone. 



38 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

until it becomes quite flat at the back, the forehead 
protrudes, and above each ear large protuberances 
appear, almost resembling horns. This practice 
goes on during all the early months of the infant's 
life, until the head remains in this distorted shape. 
All this for beauty's sake. These ignorant people 
imagine that they know better how to form a beau- 
tiful human head than does God Almighty. It is 
the fashion in that part of India, and must be fol- 
lowed — even though the practice result in the death 
of the child, which is often the case. It seemed to 
me that every child must die as a result of such 
treatment. The whole thing was at first incredible 
to me, and I asked my nurses to call in the serv- 
ants, and the children of the servants, and uncover 
their heads, that I might examine them ; men's 
heads in India being always covered with their 
pugris, and the heads of women and girls by their 
sarecs. To my astonishment, I found all their heads 
were perfectly flat at the back and protruding above 
the ears and in front, as above described. 

In the case of this little patient, we will give the 
infant into the hands of our surgical nurse, asking 
her to syringe the wound with some disinfectant 
solution, place a little pillow of surgeon's cotton 
over and around the wound, bandage the head 
nicely, as she knows how to do, and bring the 
child back to us. This done, we restore the little 
one to its mother's arms, giving strict injunction 
not again to place it upon its stone bed, and not in 
any case to remove the bandage, but to bring it 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 39 

back again to-morrow to have the wound dressed. 
The following day, however, she does not return, 
nor the next, nor for several weeks. When, how- 
ever, she does return w^e discover that the band- 
ages have been removed, and perceive by the con- 
dition of the wound that the crushing process has 
been persisted in, despite the fever which it has 
caused and the evident debility of the child. We 
begin to upbraid the little woman. We tell her 
that she is no mother, that it is a cruel, unnatural 
thing for her thus to torture her little one, that she 
has no love for her babe. At these words the tiny 
mother, with a gesture expressive of utter helpless- 
ness and a look of entreaty, exclaims: ''O, Doctor 
Sahiba, what can I do ? It is our custom ! And then, " 
she adds, in a still more helpless way, * ' I have 
a cruel mother-in-law." So it is that, though the 
child-mother might perhaps spare her infant this 
torture, there are other members of the family who 
would insist upon carrying out the custom of their 
people. Of course the little head is dressed again 
as before, and the patient and mother sent away 
with stronger orders than ever; but she never 
again returns — not at least for the sake of this 
child. Some months later she does come back to 
consult us in regard to an older child, and when we 
interrogate her concerning her baby she tells us in a 
sad way that it is dead. 

The practices above described, of binding the 
limbs and crushing the heads of infants born to 
heathen parents residing in the district or province 



40 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

of Sindh, are, as has already been intimated, in- 
flicted upon both male and female children, but if 
the little one is so unfortunate as to be born a girl 
in this district, there are many tortures which she 
mUvSt endure from which her brother would be 
exempt. 

Our next patient is also an infant in the arms of 
her young- mother. Upon examination we find the 
little limbs tightly banded down and the head 
crushed, as in the former instance, but in addition 
to this the wee ears have been pierced every eighth 
of an inch all around the rims, and dirty-looking, 
black woolen strings have been inserted in the 
freshly-wounded tender flesh. The nose, also, both 
right and left nostrils and the center portion, has 
been pierced, and the woolen strings have so irri- 
tated the wounds that both the nose and the ears 
have become enormously swollen, hot, and ulcer- 
ated to such an extent as to render the child 
feverish and ill. These running sores — shall I say 
it to refined ears? — are full of maggots, which add a 
fresh torture to the sufferings already too great. If 
we are new in Sindh, and have not yet learned how 
utterly useless it is to fight against these iron-clad 
customs, we will probably follow our first impera- 
tive impulse — clip the strings and remove them 
from the ears and nostrils; afterward passing the 
child to the nurse with instructions to syringe with 
disinfectant solution and dress the wounds properly. 
This done, we give instructions to the mother to 
allow the bandages to remain and to bring back the 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 41 

child to the dispensary to-morrow. The mother 
does not return with the child for many days. 
When, finally, she does return she approaches 
timidly and with apparent shamefacedness. She 
does not carry her infant, but her mother-in-law 
follows on behind with the babe in her arms, while 
the little mother comes toward us, bowing at every 
step until her forehead almost touches the floor. 
This formality indicates that she acknowledges her 
own great inferiority, that she feels herself to be 
little and mean and contemptible — less than the 
dust under your feet, a very slave ; while you, in 
her own words, are her via bap (mother and father), 
great, and high, and lifted up, with authority to 
command or crush her at your pleasure ; neverthe- 
less she comes to you with a petition. As she 
draws near we will await her further formality. 

Standing before us, she takes the corner of her 
saree^ wraps it around her neck, and holds it tightly 
with her two hands. This to us, suggests hanging, 
and it is a sort of mental hanging, for it means ex- 
actly the same as the low salaam above described. 
Standing now with bowed head, and joining the 
tips of index fingers, she begins to stroke the 
bridge of her nose. This formality, also, has the 
same significance as the two preceding ones. 
Finally you grow impatient, and express your will- 
ingness to hear her petition at once. The mother- 
in-law now comes forward and lays the infant on 
the table before you. The bandages have been 
removed from the head, black strings have again 



42 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

been inserted, and the cliild is in a worse condition, 
if possible, than on the occasion of the first visit. 
The little mother now interposes and begs that you 
do not again remove the strings from her baby's 
ears, but that you give some lotion or ointment 
which can be applied, and which will cause the 
wounds to heal, while the strings remain in their 
places ; adding, with all the emphasis which she is 
capable of expressing, that, if you remove them, she 
cannot again bring the child to the dispensary, be- 
cause her family will have other strings inserted 
immediately upon her return. The strings, she 
declares, must remain, because her little girl is soon 
to be married, and then ornaments will be inserted 
in place of the strings. The native Indian has a 
conviction that the English ointment is an infallible 
cure-all. No matter what the disease, no matter 
how terrible the condition, if an Indian can procure 
a little English ointment, a perfect cure is certain. 
In this case, if we are wise — if we have been in this 
part of India for long, and understand how per- 
fectly impossible it is to overthrow the customs of 
these people and how futile all efforts to prevent 
the carrying out of them — we will accede to the 
petition of the little mother. We will not again 
cut the strings from the baby's ears and nostrils, 
but we will have the wounds syringed with a disin- 
fectant solution and give her some lotion or 
powder or ointment, to apply from time to time, 
which will facilitate the healing of the wounds, 
even while the strings remain. By these means 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 43 

we shall be able at least to relieve the sufferings of 
our little patient, though we cannot wholly remove 
them ; whereas, if we were to cut the strings, the 
mother would never again return to the dispensary 
with her child, and it would be allowed to suffer on 
without relief. 

If this little girl baby is so unfortunate, as we 
would consider her — so fortunate, as the natives of 
India would consider — as to have an elder brother, 
she will be left upon her stone bed from morning 
until evening, and from evening until morning. 
She will be fed upon goat's milk if her parents are 
wealthy; if poor, rice, chapati, or any food that it 
is convenient to give. If she cry, and thus annoy 
the family, she will be dosed with opium, while her 
brother — two, three, four, five, or six years of age, 
perhaps a large boy nearly as tall as his mother — 
will sit astride his mother's hip and receive from 
her the natural nourishment which God Almighty 
provided for the young infant. Whatever the 
mother is doing, however laborious her task, she 
can never be rid of this great, strong child, which 
hangs continually upon her side. If she put him 
down for a moment, he will kick and scream, 
tear her hair, scratch and bite her until she is 
obliged to take him again upon her thigh. She 
dare not strike him or punish him in any way, for 
he is her husband's son. If you question her as to 
this strange partiality between her two children, she 
will reply, " O, the baby is only a girl, but this — 
my son! " 



44 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

You will naturally judge from this that Indian 
parents love their sons and hate their daughters. 
I believe this, also, to be a mistake. Where there 
is any love it is felt just as much for the daughter 
as for the son. I have seen this exemplified in 
many cases. I remember one instance in which 
the little daughter had fallen from an upstairs ve- 
randa and received fatal injuries. The mother told 
us about it with many tears, and my interpreter 
said to her: '' What does it matter? Slie was only 
a girl!" The mother replied, " Yes, she was only 
a girl; but then what about my mother-heart?" 
The fact is that where 3^ou find heathen people who 
know nothing about Christ, nothing about the one 
great God whose name is Love, nothing about his 
revealed truth, which teaches love, there is very 
little love to be found ; and this difference in the 
treatment of the daugfhter and son comes throuo^h 
no partiality for the son, on his own account, but 
from a purely business and mercenary principle. 
The son, from the day of his birth to the day of 
his burial or burning (for, if he be a Mohammedan, 
his remains will be buried ; if a Hindu, they will be 
burned), is a source of great honor and large income 
to his parents. Indeed, among these people the 
birth of a son is considered to be well-nigh equiva- 
lent to receiving a fortune; whereas the daughter, 
from the day of her birth to the day of her burial 
or burning, is not only a source of tremendous ex- 
pense — an expense which never ceases while she 
lives — but she is also a source of possible disgrace 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 45 

to her family and caste. If she be not married 
before she arrive at the age of twelve, she can never 
marry, as no^ native man will marry a girl over that 
age, and her parents and all their family are irrep- 
arably disgraced. Indeed, nothing can happen to 
a native family which will bring them such disgrace 
as this. The parents are supposed to have failed 
in their duty to their child. A girl thus unmarried 
is in a worse condition than a widow. She is 
stripped of her jewels and silken apparel ; a single 
scant garment of coarse texture is all that is allowed 
to her, and her beautiful hair is cut. She is not al- 
lowed to mingle with the other members of the 
family during any festivity or anniversary occasion. 
If there be rejoicings in the home at the birth or 
marriage of a son, or on account of any other good 
fortune, she may not participate in it. She must 
sit alone in a little dark place nursing her miseries, 
and never showing her face to mother, father, 
brother, sister, or guest. Even on ordinary occa- 
sions she may not show her face in the morning to 
any member of the family until they have each and 
all looked into other faces of happier fortune ; for 
she is supposed to be cursed by the gods, and for 
one to behold her face before seeing the faces of 
others would, in the opinion of natives, invariably 
bring bad luck. She does the drudgery of her 
father's household, and receives kicks and abuses 
from any and all of its members, and often upon 
the slightest provocation. Should she fall ill, no 
physician is consulted and no effort made to restore 



46 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

her health or to prolong her life. Her death is 
earnestly hoped for not only by her family and 
friends, but by herself also. 

On one occasion a native zenana worker who 
taught one of the respectable married sisters of one 
of these little unfortunate unmarried girls begged 
the father to allow her to bring a physician, not 
with any hope of restoring health, or even pro- 
longing life, but simply with the object of relieving 
the intense suffering which this daughter, who was 
far gone in consumption, was so patiently enduring. 
On several occasions the zenana worker had begged 
permission to do this, but the father was not willing 
to pay any medical fees, and still less willing to have 
the health of his daughter restored or her life pro- 
longed. Finally, however, she obtained permission 
to bring a lady physician, with the understanding 
that no fees should be charged and no effort made 
to restore the health or prolong the life of the 
patient, but only to relieve the pain. The native 
zenana worker then explained the case to me, and I 
readily agreed to the terms, consenting to pay the 
visit without charge and with the sole object of re- 
lieving the most distressing symptoms. I can never 
forget my visit. The expression of utter hopeless- 
ness, despair, and misery on this young girl's face 
beggars description. The memory of it haunted 
me for many days afterward. During a subsequent 
visit, and through my interpreter, I carefully de- 
scribed to my little patient God's great plan of sal- 
vation. I assured her that she was immortal — that 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 47 

she could never die. I said, ''The part of you that 
thinks, that feels, that suffers, that rejoices, that 
understands — that part must live forever, and for- 
ever, and forever." I told her Christ would prepare 
a place for her in heaven, and that he would take 
her to himself if she would only believe on him and 
give her heart to him. She listened with intense 
eagerness, her eyes dilating, her face flushing and 
then growing pale again. She had been taught to 
believe that she had no soul, being a woman, and 
that her only hope would have been in marriage, 
which the gods had denied her. A married woman 
may hope, by the faithful discharge of her duties 
to her husband, obedience to her mother-in-law, 
etc., etc., some time to be born again in the form of 
a man, and after that, perhaps, she may merge into 
the great God, and thus lose her individuality and 
identity ; but a woman who has been cursed of the 
gods, and for whom a husband could not be found, 
has no hope in this life or in the next. When, 
however, she heard the true story of the creation, 
the fall, the redemption of the world through the 
death of Christ, the immortality of the soul, and 
God's great plan of salvation, she accepted it with 
the simplicity of a young child, and, trusting in the 
Lord Jesus Christ for her eternal salvation, she re- 
ceived him into her heart gladly, joyfully. How 
can I tell it ? No words can describe the wonderful 
change which swept over her pale, sad face. If 
she had ever known joy, if there had ever been a 
ray of hope in her heart, it had left no trace upon 



48 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

her poor, wan countenance. Now, for the first 
time, her face was lighted up with joy and hope 
and peace ; and in her large dark eyes a wonderful 
love-light came, and remained until all light was 
gone and her spirit was with God. 

As soon as a female child is born in any house- 
hold the preparations for rejoicing, which had been 
made in anticipation of a son, are put aside, and no 
one is allowed to partake of food in that house for 
some time thereafter, as there is now cause for sad- 
ness and not rejoicing. The father begins immedi- 
ately to cast about in his mind for some one to 
whom he may betroth his new-born daughter. 
This is arranged as quickly as possible. He will 
betroth her to an infant boy if convenient, or to a 
boy in his childhood, or in his youth, or in his 
young manhood ; or to a man in middle life, or 
even to an old man with many wives. The only 
imperatively necessary thing is that she be be- 
trothed to some boy or man in her own caste, and 
that without delay. Of course, in any case, the 
bridegroom may die before the wee girl is yet old 
enough to be married, and thus she will be left a 
widow. This, however, would not be so dire a 
catastrophe as for her to remain unmarried until 
she pass the age of twelve. In the former case vshe 
only is disgraced, and is supposed to have incurred 
the curse of the gods ; whereas in the latter case her 
parents and all their family are disgraced, deeply 
and irreparably, among all their caste people. 

The betrothal involves much expense to the little 




Wealthy Hindu Bridegroom 



and his Child-Bride 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 51 

p-irl's father. He is expected to make a feast for 
the bridegroom's family and friends. To the future 
bridegroom's father, mother, brothers, and sisters 
he is expected to give bakhshish (gifts). We hear a 
great tamashi (noise, sound of rejoicing) m the 
street, and, rushing to the door, we see a horse, if 
the family are in good circumstances, otherwise a 
bullock, donkey, or goat, adorned with wreaths of 
flowers, gold and silver trappings, and carrying 
upon his back the bridegroom, who is also adorned 
with gold, silver, and flowers in the most striking 
manner. If his parents be wealthy, he may also be 
adorned with jewels of many sorts and colors 
Men and boys crowd about, and there is a soundof 
beating of drums, cymbals, and various musical in- 
struments of native device. Somewhere behind in 
the crowd there is a bullock cart, closely curtained 
on all sides, and in this purdah -carriage is the baby 
o-iri whose betrothal is now being celebrated. Ot 
course it may be that she has arrived at the age of 
one, two, three, four, or five years, and that her 
parents have been unable to arrange for this be- 
trothal eariier ; but whether she be an infant of a 
few days only or a little giri of five or six years, 
she will be closely concealed in the purdah-carnage, 
accompanied by her mother or nurse, or both, nei- 
ther of whom can be seen by the people who 
throng the carriage. After this ceremony the wed- 
ding day must not too long be postponed. ' ' How 
lono"? " do you ask? A few years ago the English 
gov^'ernment passed a law to the effect that no bride 



52 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

should go to the house of her mother-in-law before 
she arrived at the age of twelve years. I am a 
witness, however, as is every practicing physician 
in India, that this law is utterly ignored. Of 
course a law is useless unless it is enforced ; but 
who can enforce such a law as this? Who knows 
the age of the little girl-wife when she goes from 
her mother's home to the house of her mother-in- 
law? She is a zenana woman. No European, no 
man, except her nearest relatives, has ever seen 
her form or face. No one knows her age except 
her nearest relatives, and they all acquiesce in the 
practice of child-inarriage. Should the English 
authorities suspect the true age of this little bride 
to be less than that required by the law, and prose- 
cute the parents, the father of the child would take 
his affidavit unhesitatingly to the effect that she 
has passed the age of twelve, even though she were 
really only six, seven, or eight years of age. Often 
and often have I treated little women patients of 
five, six, seven, eight, and nine years, who were 
at that time living with their husbands, and came to 
our dispensary accompanied by their mother-in-law, 
which is in itself a proof of the fact. 

The wedding ceremony involves the father of 
the bride in many additional and very heavy ex- 
penses. He must again give a dinner to the bride- 
groom's family and friends; he must again give 
gifts to every member of that household. He 
must purchase for his daughter many gold and 
silver ornaments. Her ears must have gold and 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 53 

silver rings all around, every eighth of an inch. 
She must wear necklaces that begin tightly about 
the neck, increasing in length until they well-nigh 
cover her chest and reach down to her waist. Her 
fingers must have rings upon them, and her toes 
must have rings also. The latter must be solid 
silver, with blue enamel on the diamond-shaped 
tops, in the center of which there is a little hook 
holding a tiny silver bell, which renders the little 
woman incapable of moving without starting the 
jingle of silver. It is said that this custom was 
invented in order that the mother-in-law might 
know the exact whereabouts of her daughter-in- 
law. Upon her ankles she wears heavy silver 
anklets, so heavy and angular in shape as to soon 
cause the slight ankle to become quite callous all 
around. Through her left nostril she wears a gold 
ring of small size. In the septum there is also a 
gold ring, to which is attached a long pendant, 
which droops over the mouth, and requires to be 
lifted whenever she eats or drinks. The wed- 
ding ring must be of pure gold, made in the shape 
of a bugle, the most slender part of which passes 
through the right nostril. It is always very large, 
often ""interfering with the sight of the right eye. 
If the parents are poor, the wedding ring may be 
hollow ; but if they are wealthy, it must be solid, in 
which case it is very heavy. Indeed, any of them 
are sufftciently heavy to tear out the nostril, so that 
it is a common thing at our dispensary to repair noses 
thus rent ; although this ring is usually supported 



54 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

in part by a braid of hair brought from the back of 
the head down over the forehead and along the 
bridge of the nose. Her arms are covered with 
tight ivory bangles, extending from the wrist close 
down to the hand and up to the bend of the elbow. 
At this point a small space is left, to allow flexion 
and extension of the joint. Just above the elbow 
the bangles begin again, extending to the shoulder. 
The bangles are made to fit the arm so tightly as to 
badly callous the wrist and, what is worse, to inter- 
fere with the circulation of the blood, so that the 
hands become swollen, purple, and very painful, 
while the uncovered space at the elbow joint swells 
enormously, often forming abscesses which require 
to be lanced. These abscesses are intensely painful, 
and yet the mother-in-law will on no consideration 
allow even two or three of the bangles to be re- 
moved in order to relieve this terrible suffering. 
They (the bangles) are a sign of the child's re- 
spectable married condition, and to remove them 
would be a disgrace, indicating her widowhood. 
Indeed, they can never be removed during her life, 
unless her husband first die. Now, if you remem- 
ber that on her wedding day she is a mere child, you 
will know that she must grow, and is almost sure at 
one time or another to take on some additional 
flesh, and in either case the pain recurs, abscesses 
forming again and again. However large she may 
become, these bangles, which have cost her father 
the considerable sum of eighty or ninety rupees, 
are never exchanged for a larger size. When they 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 55 

are first placed upon her arms they render her 
almost helpless for a week or more ; she is unable 
to feed herself, to dress her hair, or to make her 
own toilet; so that a friend must wait upon her 
until the tender flesh shrinks away from this firm, 
unyielding pressure, and she becomes accustomed 
to the stiffness, and is thus able to resume her daily 
duties. 

These, however, are not the only nor the greater 
of the many expenses which the father is expected 
to meet on the day of his daughter's marriage. He 
must pay into the hands of his daughter's father- 
in-law the, to him, great sum of two thousand 
rupees. His income does not, in all probability, 
exceed five dollars a month, and with this he must 
support his family, which is probably large. In 
order to raise the two thousand rupees at one time 
he will need to mortgage the ornaments of his wife, 
his daughters-in-law, if he be so fortunate as to have 
any, and perhaps his brothers and other near rela- 
tives will need to do the same in order to enable 
him to raise the required amount. To liquidate 
this debt and to redeem the ornaments mortgaged 
will probably require the remainder of his life — un- 
less he be so fortunate as to have a son or two who 
may marry and thus get back the two thousand 
rupees, together with ornaments, and secure a 
daughter-in-law who will serve as family drudge 
and slave. Nor does the father's expense cease 
when he has his daughter safely married and sent 
to the home of her mother-in-law. If she fall ill at 



56 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

any time, it becomes liis duty and the duty of his 
wife to pay her regular visits at stated intervals, 
and on every such occasion his wife must pay into 
the hand of this daughter's mother-in-law a sum 
of money not less than eight annas. Should the 
parents not visit their daughter when ill, or should 
they visit her seldom, they will be considered by 
their caste people to have failed in their parental 
duty, and will be in disgrace as a result. 

On the other hand, the son is a source of income 
and honor to his parents as long as he lives. He 
may be betrothed at any time after his birth ; and 
this, as shown above, brings a feast and gifts to his 
father's family. Later on he is married, which 
means two thousand rupees — a small fortune — to his 
father. Besides this, all the jewels with which the 
little wife is adorned may be mortgaged or sold by 
her father-in-law, as they are all of pure gold or 
silver. Moreover, the little daughter-in-law ac- 
tually serves in her father-in-law's house as a 
family drudge and the slave of her mother-in- 
law. This is the only hope of the Indian woman. 
If she be blessed with a son, she looks forward 
to the time when he will marry and her labors 
cease, and when she will be respected and en- 
vied by all the native women because she has 
a married son and a daughter-in-law to serve 
her. Moreover, this same son may be married 
several times, even if his wives all live ; or if one 
or more of them die, it affords him still greater op- 
portunity for marrying, and each new wife will 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 57 

bring to his father a small fortune. Besides all 
this, he must of necessity follow the occupation of 
his father, and early in his life he may begin to 
earn a regular salary, which in every case he passes 
over to his father, who is the head of the house as 
long as he lives. Thus a son in India is a source 
of increasing wealth and respectability to his par- 
ents, while the daughter is the reverse. 

To return to our dispensary. We find several 
little women waiting to have their ears repaired ; 
for not only does the nose ring tear out the nostril, 
but it is a more common occurrence to have the ears 
torn through. The earrings worn in this part of 
the country by the poor and middle classes are solid 
silver rings of immense size, and covered with great, 
sharp protuberances. These rings pull the upper 
half of the ear down over the lower half until the 
whole ear is stretched and distorted so that you 
would scarcely recognize it. Thus the great silver 
rings are piled one upon another ; being inserted, 
as has already been stated, every eighth of an inch 
all the way around the rim of the ear, and standing 
out from the head two or three inches like great 
horns. Whenever one of these rings tears its way 
through the ear, so that it drops to the floor, the 
mother-in-law will immediately pierce another hole 
and put the ring back in its place ; and this she will 
do as long as there is any space left. When, 
finally, there is no longer any sound part through 
which a hole can be bored in the little woman's 

ear, when the entire rim of that delicate organ is 
4 



58 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

slitted and slashed like the ragged edge of a frayed 
garment, then the mother-in-law will bring her to 
the hospital to have her ears repaired. Not that 
she cares in the least for the disfiguration thus 
caused or for the deformity; that is a matter of no 
consequence. The chief object of lading the wife 
with ornaments and jewels is not that she may be 
adorned, that her beauty may be enhanced — it is a 
business arrangement. The wife is the bank of 
her husband. He is distrustful of Englishmen and 
of English banks ; he fears to bury his gold in the 
earth, lest its hiding place be discovered by robbers ; 
but his wife is in purdah, kept in close seclusion; 
no robber can get at her without great difficulty. 
He therefore invests every spare rupee in a solid 
gold or silver ornament to be hung upon his wife's 
person. This can be mortgaged or sold at any 
time, and is just so much cash to him. They are 
not careful that the gold and silver ornaments be 
beautifully molded or carved. It is a common 
thing to see a very rough gold nugget made into a 
necklace, the several parts of which are beaten 
out in the crudest manner. The natives of India 
object to anaesthetics, and think it quite unneces- 
sary to administer anything for the, to them, 
trifling operation of repairing such rents. It is an 
everyday occurrence to have several such patients 
at our dispensary, and to see one after another sit 
down quietly and have two, three, or more rents in 
each ear denuded and sewed up, and one or two 
such in the right nostril. During the whole opera- 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 59 

tion, which is really a very painful one, the little 
patient will never wince, nor cry out, nor make any 
sign of pain. She is so inured to suffering that this 
is easily borne. 

Here comes another patient from the clerk's 
office. She resembles the others in size, but seems 
to be rather older than the first-mentioned, though 
still young. She is very lame, and walks with 
difficulty. Her mother-in-law precedes her; a 
young native woman is never permitted to leave 
her husband's house except she is accompanied by 
her mother-in-law. Presently they stand before 
us, and the mother-in-law begins to explain that 
her daughter-in-law is a very bad, ill-tempered, 
naughty child, and that recently, in a fit of temper, 
she threw herself from the roof of the house and 
lamed herself badly. We turn to the little patient 
for her version of the story. She repeats almost 
precisely the words just spoken by her mother-in- 
law. She confesses herself to be very ill-tempered 
and naughty, and declares that she injured herself 
in leaping from the roof of the house. After 
making a careful examination of my patient I am 
convinced that both mother-in-law and daughter- 
in-law have lied; and so I determine, for once in 
their lives, to separate this mother-in-law from her 
daughter-in-law. Bidding the former remain 
where she is, I take the little wife into my private 
consulting room, and the door is fastened; then I 
bring a chair and persuade the little woman to sit 
down upon it. This she is very loath to do, as she 



60 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

has never been allowed to sit in the presence of any 
person whom she respects. Finally, however, she 
takes the chair by my side. I now assure her that 
I am her friend. I tell her about my happy home 
in America ; that I have a father who loves me and 
brothers who love me and are kind to me, but that 
I heard of her ; I knew her life was unhappy, that 
her friends were not gentle and kind to her as mine 
were to me, and because of my love for the dear 
Lord, who came to earth to suffer and to die for her 
and for me, I left my home in the far-off land, and 
came across the waters, away over to India, in order 
that I might somehow Jiclp her. I ask her if she 
believes all this ; if she believes that I am her 
friend ; but long before I have reached this point the 
little woman is convulsed with sobs. Indian wom- 
en, especially in Sindh, seldom weep on account of 
harsh words, unkindness, or pain of any sort, how- 
ever severe. They are inured to suffering; but 
when you declare yourself to be their friend, when 
you speak to them kind, tender words, it is not 
difficult to find their hearts. And so, as soon as 
she is able to speak, she confesses that she believes 
me to be her friend ; that she never had a friend 
or anyone to love her, and that no one ever talked 
to her thus before in all her life. In reply I tell 
her I am her physician ; that I wish to make 
her well and strong, but cannot do so unless I know 
the facts of her case. I tell her that I am fully 
aware that both she and her mother-in-law mis- 
represented the case to me in the general consulting 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 61 

room. I know from the character of her wounds 
that she never got them by jumping from the roof 
of a house. "So now," I say, ''won't you tell me 
the truth? Won't you tell me just how you got 
these wounds and bruises? I shall not tell your 
mother-in-law. I shall not tell any of your caste 
people, but I want to know all about it ; the whole 
truth." She promises to tell me the truth, and 
then begins by saying that she is a very naughty 
girl and very ill-tempered. I stop her and remind 
her of her promise to tell me the truth. She 
assures me again that she will tell me the truth. 
She fully believes this to be true. She has been 
told all her life that she was the worst and most ill- 
tempered creature on the face of the earth, and she 
has no doubt of its truth ; and so she begins again 
with the same confession, after which she proceeds to 
say that on one occasion a brother-in-law asked her 
to do something which she felt herself really too 
weak to do. She was so tired, so weak, and so 
hungry that she did not instantly obey his com- 
mand, perhaps she even answered back, whereupon 
he felled her to the earth. Another came along and 
kicked her, and still another member of her hus- 
band's family beat her with a club until she became 
unconscious. She does not know what happened 
after that, but she imagines they thought they had 
killed her, and were frightened on account of the 
English government; at any rate, after she came 
to herself she found they had dragged her behind 
the house, in the narrow space between it and the 



62 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

great wall which surrounds it. When she raised 
her head and looked about she saw her mother-in- 
law peeping around the corner. As soon as she 
was able she dragged herself out where she could 
get a drink of water. All this happened two weeks 
ago. Since then she has been gradually improving, 
but has not yet been able to work much, and be- 
cause of this latter her mother-in-law, judging her 
to be so far recovered that the doctor at the hospital 
would believe her story about leaping from the roof 
of the house, determined to bring her to the dispen- 
sary in order that she might be made well enough 
to work. 

This is one case only ; many such have I treated 
in Hyderabad. Little frail creatures come into 
the hospital all black and blue, and maimed from 
head to foot, from brutal kicks and club beatings 
which they have received at the hands of mother- 
in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and other 
members of the husband's household ; and this 
often upon the slightest provocation. Do you 
question why the English government permits 
such outrages? It is plain enough. The English 
government does not and would not permit it 
if the English government had any power to pre- 
vent it. 

Suppose that I, as an English government physi- 
cian, in charge of this dispensary, were to prosecute 
the perpetrators of this outrage. A day would be 
appointed for the hearing. The case must needs 
be tried in a small-cause court, as all such cases 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 53 

come under this head, and these courts are all 
presided over by native judges. On the day of 
hearing the father-in-law, his sons, brothers, and 
other relatives, together with perhaps fifty or more 
outside witnesses (who for two annas each are 
willing to swear to anything), all give evidence to 
the same effect; that, from such, or such, or such a 
distance, he saw this little woman leap from the 
roof of her father-in-law's house and had personally 
heard her cries, knowing that she must have been 
injured by the fall. They would each and all 
testify to the perfectly upright, honorable, and re- 
spectable character of the father-in-law's family. 
After such overwhelming evidence as this, all 
coming from eyewitnesses (?), what weight would 
my evidence have? I testify that on a certain 
occasion, in my private consulting room, this 
little child-wife gave a very different explanation 
as to the cause of her wounds. Perhaps my in- 
terpreter is also present, and confirms my evi- 
dence. To overbalance this, however, the little 
child-wife herself, in her close purdah garment, is 
brought into court, and there takes her affidavit 
that she leaped from the roof of her father-in-law's 
house in a fit of anger, and thus wounded herself. 
She will perhaps also testify that she is very ill- 
tempered and bad, and that her husband's family 
are all very good and kind to her. She dare not, for 
her life, testify otherwise. Of course the judge will 
dismiss the case. It may be that away down in his 
hea,rt he is convinced that the little American doc- 



64 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

tor somehow must have gotten a confession of the 
truth from this little Indian woman, but he is, never- 
theless, glad that she has not sufficient evidence to 
prove the facts in the case. For he himself would 
treat his own daughter-in-law in like manner ; in- 
deed, he considers that the husband or father-in- 
law has a perfect right to take the life of his wife or 
dauo'hter-in-law if he feels vSo inclined. 

As already intimated, the daughter-in-law is a 
drudge and slave in her husband's home. Early 
in the morning, before any other members of the 
family are awake, she is up ; and sitting in front of 
the door on the ground, she grinds the wheat for 
the day's consumption. The wheat is ground be- 
tween two great stones, the upper one having a 
hole in its center, through which the wheat falls 
from the hand of the grinder. The upper stone 
has also a wooden handle at one side by which it is 
turned around and around. This is the same sort 
of a mill as that referred to in the Bible : ' * Two 
women shall be grinding at the mill." If there 
are two daughters-in-law in the family, the two will 
share this labor, one sitting on either side of the 
mill. They are supposed to sing a grinding song 
while engaged in this task, and for the song to 
cease before the wheat is ground would be sufficient 
offense to justify a blow from any member of the 
husband's family. This is very arduous labor, and 
the slight little women sometimes faint away while 
engaged in the task. Later in the day the degchas 
(brass and copper cooking utensils) must be scoured 




A Little Daughter-in-law Scouring the Degchas 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 67 

with the palm of the hand until they shine like mir- 
rors. Common soil from the front of the door is 
used for this purpose. 

In this part of India the fashion allows the 
daughter-in-law, in the early, early morning, be- 
fore anyone else is astir, to break her fast with 
any cold food, rice curry or chapati (pancake, made 
of flour and water), which may have been left over 
from the day before. If there chance to be no 
such cold food in the house, which is often the 
case, then her fast must remain unbroken during 
the long hours of that hot, sultry day. Though 
she prepare all the food for the family, no particle 
may pass her lips. She prepares the food and 
stands serving while the others eat, but she has 
nothing to satisfy her own hunger until late at 
night, nine or ten o'clock, when all the family have 
eaten, smoked the huqqa (native pipe), gossiped, 
and retired to rest; then, if there be cold food left 
in the house, any which has not been consumed 
during the day, she may take of this to satisfy her 
hunger. Consequently — a natural result of this 
custom— the mother-in-law is often obliged to bring 
her little half-starved daughter-in-law to the dis- 
pensary for treatment. She will then stand be- 
fore you and declare that the girl-wife is very 
lazy ; that she does not love work ; and that often 
while engaged in grinding her wheat, or some other 
domestic task, she pretends a faint and seems to 
become unconscious. She assures you that this 
cannot be real ; she is certain that the child is only 



68 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

shirking work, but adds that, though she beat her, 
she will not resume her task ; and when, finally, she 
returns to consciousness and goes back to her work 
she will perhaps faint again. She then instructs 
you that in case you find any serious disease upon 
the child which is likely to be fatal it is a matter of 
no consequence. She does not care to prolong her 
life if she is likely to die, for she is only a girl, and 
no good on earth. But if she live, she must work ; 
so, if you do not find anything serious the matter 
with her, she will be glad to have you give her 
something that will make her strong to work. 
During all this harangue the daughter-in-law's face 
does not alter in its expression. She has heard 
such talk as this all her life, and she cannot be 
more grieved than she has ever been. The same 
look of settled, helpless despondency remains on 
her countenance. We examine the frail little pa- 
tient. Her body is emaciated almost to a skele- 
ton ; her little pulse flutters and intermits. We 
find no organic disease present, and we know by 
many signs that she is in a condition of chronic starva- 
tion. We interrogate the mother-in-law as to her 
food — when she eats, what she eats, how often she 
takes food, and in what quantities. Unblushingly 
the mother-in-law refers to the above custom, 
which allows the daughter-in-law to eat the rem- 
nants of food which are left over from the family 
meals during the early morning hour and late at 
night. We tell her that she is starving the child to 
death ; and ask her if she will not provide at least 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 69 

one Clip of milk every day at noon, or one egg) or 
at least make sure that the child does get some- 
thing to eat in the middle of the day regularly. 
In answer the mother-in-law straightens herself 
up, and with a sarcastic smile she assures you 
that that child's small stomach is not able to contain 
more food than she gets. By this you know that, 
while for the sake of the work she is willing to 
bring her daughter-in-law to the dispensary to get 
medicine which costs her nothing, she will not go 
to the expense of one extra //^ (a small copper com, 
worth about one sixth of a cent) for the sake of im- 
proving her daughter-in-law's health or prolonging 
her life. We have a secret closet in our hospital, 
of which I carry the key. It contains beef extract, 
mutton extract, essence of chicken, soups, and other 
nourishing preparations. ' 'My Esther," my Christian 
matron, and one or two of my Christian nurses 
know about this closet, and so I give to one of them 
the key, and she understands what is meant. Pres- 
ently she returns with a large bottle, having upon it 
a very imposing scarlet label, directing that the 
patient take one wineglassful of the contents every 
hour. Of course, if these high-caste natives knew 
that I was feeding a member of their family upon 
beef or mutton, or any other meat preparation, my 
life would no longer be safe in their midst. They 
do not know it, however, and there is little danger 
of their ever finding it out, as none of them would 
know the taste of meat, however prepared, if they 
were fed upon it. By this means we are able at 



70 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

least to prevent the child from starvation, and to 
give her a little strength whereby she may perform 
her daily task without excessive fatigue. 

I have endeavored to describe a few of my most 
interesting patients in order to acquaint you with 
those peculiar pathological conditions which result 
from the strange and cruel practices of this most 
barbarous people. I have not mentioned any of 
the many cases of leprosy which come to our dis- 
pensary for treatment; nor yet that even more 
loathsome but unnamable disease which prevails 
to such an alarming extent throughout this part of 
India ; nor smallpox, which is sometimes seen ; nor 
cholera, many cases of which we have during every 
cholera season. It has not been my object to dis- 
cuss medical subjects, nor to outline the treatment 
of diseases peculiar to India ; but rather merely to 
touch upon those self-inflicted tortures which ac- 
quaint us with the cruel customs, prejudices, and 
barbarous practices of these people in their inner 
home-life. Perhaps, if you were there with me in 
person, instead of being there merely in imagina- 
tion, the thing which would leave the deepest and 
the most indelible impression upon your mind, more 
than any diseased condition which I have named or 
could name, is the expression upon the counte- 
nances of these women — old and young. As we 
enter together the great front door which leads into 
the front veranda, and you cast your eyes over the 
crowd of women and children that sit upon the 
floor of that veranda, you will see upon their faces 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 71 

an expression of settled, unchanging, hopeless mis- 
ery, which it is utterly impossible to describe. The 
children are not playing around with one another. 
There seems to be no real child-life among them ; 
it has been utterly crushed out; unless, indeed, 
there happen to be some little boys in the crowd. 
The girls, though little more than babes, sit quietly 
on the floor, like old women, wearing the same look 
of hopeless despair and wretchedness. You never 
see these little girls at play ; you never see a happy, 
joyous expression upon their countenances. And 
many women at the age of thirty appear to be de- 
crepit, worn-out, old women. 

My work in the hospital at Hyderabad was de- 
lightful. There was nothing difficult or arduous 
in connection with it. I had a full staff of efficient 
hospital assistants, who seemed to vie with each 
other in rendering me the most prompt, efficient, 
anticipative service. My work was only the purely 
medical and surgical. Indeed, much of the medical 
and surgical work I could safely intrust to either 
''My Esther," my matron, or my head nurse. The 
hospital records were prepared by the hospital 
clerk ; I had only to review, correct, and sign them. 
Even my prescriptions were written by another at 
my dictation. My compounder, or druggist, never 
made a mistake in the putting up of his medicines 
or in the labeling of them. Only the examination, 
diagnosis, and prescribing for my medical patients 
and the performing of major operations devolved 
upon me ; and, of course, the overseeing and man- 



72 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

aging- of the whole. All this was pure delight to 
me, as I love medicine and surgery and everything 
in connection with it ; and yet, I assure you, often 
and often I have returned home from my dispensary 
and thrown myself upon my face in utter weariness 
of body and mind — not because of any work which 
I had performed, but simply on account of the 
heartrending stories of suffering to which I had 
listened and the horrible conditions which I had 
witnessed, but which I felt myself so utterly helpless 
to materially better. Indeed, I often questioned in 
my mind whether there could be any real advantage 
in relieving the present merely physical suffering, 
and prolonging human life in cases where the heart, 
the mind, the soul, writhed in agony, being so much 
more hopelessly diseased — the heart sufferings ex- 
ceeding in such great measure any possibility of 
physical pain. 

Will you go with me to visit one out-patient? 
The messenger is a Hindu prince. He comes in a 
fine English phaeton, drawn by four horses. He 
has two coachmen on the box, two standing behind. 
He himself is attired in pure white garments, with 
the peculiar tall silk hat, with its crown downward 
and its rim above, which is worn by every wealthy 
and distinguished native gentleman in the district 
of Sindh. He is a man of sixty or sixty-five years 
of age, and his hair is quite white. He informs me 
that one of his wives is very ill, and that he wishes 
me to go at once to see her. I take my seat in the 
carriage, with " My Esther" at my side. We pass 




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WITHIN THE PURDAH 75 

through the narrow streets of the native city until 
we reach a great gateway opening through a tall 
wall which surrounds the premises. At this gate 
we alight from our carriage and, passing through a 
very small gate in the center of one of the two 
doors of which the large gate is composed, we find 
ourselves in the courtyard of the prince. This 
court is about thirty by sixty feet in size, and is sur- 
rounded by a great wall. At the farther end you 
see a deep veranda with a sloping roof, which ob- 
structs the skylight so much as to render it quite 
dark. We cross the courtyard and enter the ve- 
randa, from which we pass through a large folding 
door into the one apartment which constitutes the 
home of this prince. It is a room of about fifteen 
by thirty feet in size. There is no window in the 
room., nor any opening except the door through 
which we entered. The apartment has a ground 
floor. You see no furniture about, but the place is 
crowded with women and children of all ages. As 
soon as our eyes become accustomed to the dimness 
we are conducted to a corner of the room behind 
the door, where, stretched upon the floor, we find 
the emaciated form of a woman of about thirteen 
or fourteen years of age. vShe is the fourth wife of 
the prince, though there is such a remarkable dis- 
crepancy in their ages. I get down on the ground 
floor by the side of my little patient, in order to 
examine her carefully. I find no organic disease, 
but soon perceive that she is starving to death. I 
prescribe one of the large bottles from the secret 



76 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

closet in my dispensary, and volunteer to supply a 
trained nurse, without charge, in order that my lit- 
tle patient may have every attention and may be 
sure to get the medicine and the other nourish- 
ments which I prescribe at regular intervals. The 
prince, however, gladly accepting the medicine, not 
knowing its ingredients, refuses the services of my 
nurse, assuring me that his wife shall have every 
attention and that my minutest orders shall be 
scrupulously carried out. Thus we leave them. 
The following day the same carriage stops again in 
front of my bungalow door. The prince has come 
to take me again to his home. As we drive along 
through the streets of the native city he tells me 
that his wife, my patient, is a very troublesome lit- 
tle woman, and that vshe has refused to take my 
medicine and the nourishment which I prescribed. 
He assures me that she holds me in great reverence, 
and that if I but exercise my authority over her, 
scold her a little and command her sternly, she 
will obey me and there will be no further trouble. 
Again in the dark corner with my patient, I request 
" My Esther" to clear the room, which is crowded 
with women and children as before. This is no easy 
task. With arms extended, as if she were driving 
a flock of geese, and with many words she attempts 
to get the women and children into the courtyard. 
At my request the prince assists in this process of 
driving ; but as fast as they are gotten out of the 
door they slip back again, stooping under the out- 
stretched arms of " My Esther," and crowding back 




My Esther," Mrs. Mary Esther Isaac llahi Baksh 



WITHIN THE PURDAH 79 

into some dark corner where they may see and hear 
all that is going on. At length, however, the room 
is empty, and I request the lord of the place to 
stand in the door and guard the way, that no person 
may enter again. This I do with the double mo- 
tive of keeping the women and children out and 
meantime keeping him away also. Of course I 
cannot close the door, for all the light we get comes 
through it, and the room would be perfectly dark if 
the door were closed. Sitting down on the ground 
by the side of my patient, I take her little emaciated 
hand between my two large palms, and with low- 
pitched voice I begin talking to her very much in 
the same way as I talked to the little girl who had 
been beaten. I tell her about my home in America, 
my family and friends there ; I tell her about the 
Lord Jesus Christ and his love for her and for me; 
how he left his home in heaven to come to earth, 
to suffer and to die for our sakes. I assure her of 
my love for her, my great interest in her, my sym- 
pathy for her in her sufferings, and my desire to 
help her. She weeps so much that I feel obliged 
to discontinue my talk lest she injure herself. 
When, finally, she is calm again I ask her why she 
did not take my medicine, and why she refused the 
nourishment which I had prescribed. At this ques- 
tion she puts her little emaciated hands together in 
a respectful salaam and says, while her voice trem- 
bles with emotion: '' O, doctor, Sahiba, do not ask 
me to take your medicine ! Do not ask me to take 
the nourishment ! If I take your English medicine, 

5 



80 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

and if I take the food which you have prescribed 
for me, I shall get well ; and, O, I do not wish to 
get well ! So don't — please don't — ask me to take 
it!" 

'Tis thus in heathen darkness 

Fair women crave to die ; 
Their crushed and broken spirits 

From direst fetters fly. 

Such mute appeal, unheeded. 

Must rend the startled air 
Till God, in mercy stooping, 

Avenge that silent prayer. 

O, haste, ye Christian people, 

Of every clime and name, 
Go bear the Gospel message, 

Its joyful news proclaim ! 

Haste, haste, the day is passing. 

The harvest ripe appears ; 
List to thy Master's calling, 

Dispel all selfish fears. 

Go, lift the purdah curtain ! 

Go, break the iron~bar! 
Beat down that wall of granite, 

And shout the tidings far. 



BOOK II 

IN THE ZENANA HOMES 
OF INDIAN PRINCES 



TO 

THE BELOVED SON OF MY ADOPTION 

MR. J. A. ILAHI BAKSH 

OF 

THE HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS 

INDIA 

THIS SMALL WORK 

IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES" 

IS 

AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

BY 

HIS EVER FAITHFUL AND TRUE 

MOTHER-FRIEND 

THE AUTHOR 



BOOK II 

IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN 

PRINCES 



THE TAJ MAHAL 



THE Taj Mahal, of world-wide celebrity, is situ- 
ated in the Northwest Provinces of India, 
about two miles from the city of Agra, on the bank 
of the Jumna River, and one mile east of Agra fort. 
It is an extraordinarily beautiful mausoleum, and 
was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan as a sepul- 
cher for himself and for his favorite wife, Muntaz- 
i-Mahal, the " Exalted of the Palace," who died in 
1629. 

The cost of this temple is said to have been about 
two crores of rupees (about ten million dollars) and 
twenty thousand workmen were incessantly em- 
ployed upon it for a period of twenty-two years. 

The general design of this tomb is extremely 
complex and graceful, and the workmanship is most 
elaborate and remarkably beautiful. The chief 
features of the building are the mausoleum in the 
center, on an elevated platform, surmounted by a 
magnificent dome, with smaller domes at each cor- 
ner, and four very graceful and exquisite minarets 
one hundred and thirty-three feet in height. The 

85 



86 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

building is, for the most part, constructed of pure 
white marble from Jeypore and red sandstone from 
Fatehpur Sikri. The mosaic work of the interior 
is remarkably rich and beautiful in effect. This is 
the finest building in India, and is acknowledged to 
be the most exquisitely beautiful structure in the 
world. 

A colossal gateway admits you to the inclosure. 
In front of the tomb is a beautiful garden, contain- 
ing a great variety of tropical trees, in the center 
of which is an avenue of tall dark cypresses sepa- 
rated by fountains. P^rom the foundation of the 
tomb arises a double platform, the first being of red 
sandstone, twenty feet high and one thousand feet 
broad ; the second of marble, fifteen feet high and 
three hundred feet square. The whole building is 
about one hundred and eighty-six feet square. 

The following description is taken from The 
Times of India, and was written by William H. Rus- 
sell: 

* ' On mounting to the platform of tesselated mar- 
ble on which the body of the building, surmounted 
by its dome and slender minarets, stands, the propor- 
tions of the whole are so full of grace and feeling 
that the mind rests quite contented with the general 
impression ere it gives a thought to the details of 
the building — the exquisite screens of marble in the 
windows, the fretted porches, the arched doorways, 
from which a shower of fleecy marble, mingled 
with a rain of gems, seems about to fall upon you ; 
the solid walls melting and glowing with tendrils 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 87 

of bright flowers and wreaths of bloodstone, agate, 
jaspar, carnelian, amethyst, snatched as it were 
from the garden outside and pressed into the snowy 
blocks. Enter by the doorway before you ; the 
arched roof of the cupola rises above you, and the 
light falls dimly on the shrinelike tombs in the cen- 
ter — see glistening marble again — a winter palace, 
in whose glacial walls some gentle hand has buried 
the last flowers of autumn. And hark! As you 
whisper gently there rolls through the obscure 
vault overhead a murmur like that of the sea on a 
pebbly beach in summer — a low sweet song of praise 
and peace. A white-bearded moulvie, who never 
raises his eyes from his book as we pass, suddenly 
reads out a verse from the Koran. Hark again ! 
How an invisible choir takes it up, till the reverber- 
ated echoes swell into the full volume of the sound 
of many voices ; it is as though some congregation 
of the skies were chanting their earnest hymns 
above our heads. 

''The tomb stands in the center. A dome of 
snowy whiteness, upward of two hundred feet above 
the level of the platform, with a circumference at 
the base of more than the same number of feet, 
rises above the great pediment which constitutes 
the shrine. It is covered by two gilt balls, which 
are surmounted by a gilt crescent. At each angle 
of the building a small dome, the miniature of that 
in the center, is placed. There is an entrance on 
each side of the shrine formed by a very beautifully 
proportioned arch, with pointed top nearly the 



88 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

height of the whole building, and smaller arches at 
the sides. All this marble is wonderfully inlaid 
with precious stones, with texts from the Koran, 
wreaths of flowers, and the richest arabesques. It 
is in the lower part of the building, and in the body 
of the terrace, as it were, below the dome, that 
the tombs of the great shah, ' the King of the 
World,' and of his consort are placed. The ceno- 
taph of the latter is covered with profuse ornaments 
and texts from the holy book of the Mohammedans. 
Her lord lies beside her, beneath a less costly but 
loftier monument, and the two tombs are inclosed 
by a latticed wall of white marble, which is cut and 
carved as though it were of the softest substance in 
the world. A light burned in the tombs, and some 
garlands of flowers were laid over the rich imita- 
tions of themselves by which the surface was cov- 
ered. The chamber of the tomb is octagonal, and 
is nearly in utter darkness. The effect of the rays 
of the lamps on the white marble railing and on 
parts of the glistening walls of the tomb is powerful 
— gloomy and yet bright. On emerging thence we 
once more enter the Great Chamber, where are 
placed the unoccupied sarcophagus of the shah and 
of his wife directly over the real tombs in the cham- 
ber below, on which are bestowed the most elabo- 
rate efforts of the extraordinary skill which is dis- 
played in the building. Flowers in many gems, 
mosaics, wreaths, scrolls, texts, run riot over the 
marble surface of the sarcophagus, walls, and vaulted 
dome rising above us." 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 89 

The Zenana Home is a small, dark, mud-plastered, unfurnished 
room where the high-caste and wealthy married woman is kept in 
lifelong seclusion. It is, practically, a prison-house, a penitentiary 
cell, the tomb of a living wife. Even the favorite wife of the Em- 
peror Shah Jahan himself must have known no better home than /^ "\ 
this during her lifetime ; but after her death the above-described f y/j \ 
extravagantly expensive monument was erected to her memory. 

The Tomb of the Dead ) 

AND V Wife 

The Tomb of the Living ) 

The dead wife's tomb is grand and fair, 

All wrought from snow-white marble rare ; 

By hand inlaid with mother-of-pearl. 

Outlining flower and beauteous curl. 

Its walls and ceilings all are fraught 

With work mosaic, strangely wrought ; 

And rich and beauteous in design, 

More graceful than a clinging vine ; 

While rainbow colors all combine 

To glorify this dead wife's shrine — 

A monument of stately grace 

Whose brightness rivals heaven's face. 

Its domes of shining marble rise 

In bold relief toward the skies. 

Full twenty thousand craftsmen wrought, 

To hew from stone this wondrous thought, 

For two and twenty years, they say. 

Incessantly they toiled away 

From early dawn till eventide ; 

They hewed, and carved, and beautified ; 

Nor did the daily task decrease, 

Nor ever did the labor cease. 

Till full one score of years and more — 

One score and two — were counted o'er : 

When, lo ! the temple stood complete, 

With grace and beauty all replete — 



90 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

And wondering nations still confess 
And marvel at its loveliness. 
Ten million dollars, it is said, 
Were spent for this tomb of the dead. 



The tomb of living luife, I ween, 
Zenana home of princess, queen, 
Is small, and dark, and bare, and mean. 
As lowest hovel ever seen. 
The native's horse and goat and cow 
More precious are, by far, I trow. 
Unto his " royal " (?) heart than she 
May ever hope on earth to be ; 
She but his wife, and one of four — 
Or one of many, many score. 
And so she lives in living tomb ; 
It is her " fate," her bitter doom ; 
Unloved, unwept, she lives to weep 
And lifelong, changeless vigil keep. 
She prays to die, she sighs alone, 
But no one heeds her bitter moan ; 
" Only a woman " she. 



THE ZENANA WOMAN AND HER PURDAH 

HOME 

Zenana, properly speaking, means woman; but 
in a broader, more common sense it has come 
to be applied more particularly to the high-caste 
wealthy woman of India. Or it may mean her 
home, if hers can be called a home — the prison- 
house where she is kept in seclusion, the sepulcher 
where she must remain entombed during all the days 
of her life. Indeed, the term may be applied to 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 91 

almost anything which pertains to a native, high- 
caste wealthy woman of India or to her secluded 
life. 

Purdah really means curtain, but in common 
usage it has come to be applied to the zenana home, 
or house ; to the long, close garment which conceals 
the face and form of the zenana woman ; or, indeed, 
to anything which contributes to the seclusion of a 
high-caste Indian woman. 

We often speak of a *' purdah woman," or we 
may speak of a ''zenana woman" as being *' in 
purdah." Both words relate to the custom of keep- 
ing high-caste native women of wealthy parentage 
in seclusion, but the word zenana relates more par- 
ticularly to the high-caste wealthy native woman 
herself, while purdah relates to the environments 
which are adjusted with a view to her seclusion. 

The very poor and the low-caste women of India, 
who greatly outnumber the wealthy, are as free as 
the women of any country ; and may go out and in 
at their pleasure, carry packages on their heads 
from the railway station to European homes with 
the common coolies, sweep the streets, visit the 
parks with the children whom they have in charge, 
carry on regular laundry work — going for and 
bringing back the clothes themselves; indeed, they 
are free to engage in any occupation which belongs 
to their caste. 

The daughter or the wife of a high-caste wealthy 
native gentleman, however, has no such privilege. 
She may never wander free over God's green sod. 



92 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

She may never watcli the advancing glory of the 
rising sun in the eastern horizon nor gaze upon the 
gorgeous sunset in the west. Her foot may never 
leave its imprint in the soft, moist sand of the sea- 
shore. She may not roam the woodland, nor pluck 
the opening blossom laden with dew in the early 
springtime, nor inhale the fragrance that fills the 
air, exuding from every growing thing. She may 
never wander by the flowing stream, nor climb the 
mountain height, nor rest in the shade of a tree, 
nor breathe at early dawn the fresh, cool, perfumed 
air that fills with joy and life and vigor every living 
thing. She is a prisoner, condemned to lifelong 
solitude and close confinement, though guilty of no 
crime ; though innocent and guileless as an infant. 
There is no chair in her home, no table, no fur- 
niture of any kind, no carpet on the mud floors of 
her dwelling, no picture upon the mud walls ; the 
mud ceiling of her prison-house is festooned with 
smoke only. In the courtyard surrounding her 
prison-house there may be an old, half -dead tree, 
with its leaves withered and its branches broken. 
There may be one or two horses, cows, or goats, 
and a caged parrot also. There is no grass. The 
place is surrounded by high brick or stone walls 
plastered over with mud. True, if her eyes are 
strong enough to bear the terrible glare, she may 
gaze upon the sun at the noon hour as he passes 
almost directly over her head. In the morning and 
in the evening she may look up above her head and 
see God's blue sky, but it is not the deep blue that 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 93 

delights and rests the eye in this more temperate 
clime ; that beautiful deep blue color seems burned 
out in the awful heat, so that the sky assumes a 
pale gray aspect, like a bleached and faded gar- 
ment. During the monsoon weather she may watch 
the clouds, dark and threatening, as they pass above 
the dingy walls of her prison-house. Bouquets of 
cut blossoms may be brought to her to relieve the 
dull monotony of her_solitary life, but this is all, 
or nearly all, that she is permitted to enjoy of all 
the numberless beautiful things which God has 
given to rest the eye and delight the human soul. 

She is not, however, altogether alone in her soli- 
tude. She is one of many wives. If she be the 
first, or one, even, of the four chief wives, she is 
fortunate indeed. She may be only one of the hun- 
dred, or four hundred, concubines in her husband's 
harem ; in which latter case she is nothing more nor 
less than a slave — purchased at a price — who may 
be kicked or beaten at the caprice of her lord and 
master, and upon the slightest provocation. 

Who would not choose the hard, half -starved, 
overworked but free life of the poorest sweeper 
woman rather than the imprisoned, monotonous 
existence of a high-caste zenana woman, though 
hers be royal blood? 

The Zenana Woman 

She is a princess, or a queen — 

She may not see, nor yet be seen. 

She may not laugh, and shout, and play 

Through childhood's buoyant, festive day. 



94 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

She may not other maidens know 
In youth, nor may she skip or row. 
She has no toys with which to play — 
No games to while the hours away. 
She seldom hears a story new ; 
Of stranger guests she has but few. 
She cannot knit, nor sew, nor brew, 
Nor any other task pursue. 
She cannot write, nor read, you know ; 
To school she is forbid to go. 
She may not with the poet soar. 
Nor study any ancient lore ; 
Nor scan a paper, or a book. 
Nor even on a picture look. 
Within four dingy walls of clay 
She is forever doomed to stay- 
Though guilty of no crime, I trow. 
Her guileless heart and olive brow 
Must feel a thraldom and a woe 
Which free-born souls need never know. 
She ne'er may wander glad and free 
As any child of God should be. 
Her foot may never tread the mead 
Where cowslips grow and wild deer feed. 
She ne'er may roam the woodland through. 
Nor pluck the gentle violet blue ; 
Nor trace the outline of a flower 
Beneath some sheltered woodland bower. 
Her foot elastic may not know 
Nor feel the yielding sod below. 
She ne'er may list the wild bird's song. 
Where myriad feathered minstrels throng. 
She ne'er may hear the echo fall 
Within God's blue-arched forest hall ; 
Nor breathe the clover-scented air. 
Nor watch the bees their sweets prepare. 
Her foot may never wander free 
By any stream, 'neath any tree. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 95 

She may not climb the mountain steep, 

Nor watch the cataract's fearful leap ; 

Nor rest in peaceful valley green, 

Nor gaze upon a beauteous scene. 

She may not scent the new-mown hay. 

Nor watch the golden dawn of day ; 

Nor see the sun in glory set, 

Nor pluck the blossoms, dewy wet ; 

Nor breathe the perfumed morning air, 

Nor gather shells and pebbles rare ; 

Nor feel the thrill of dawning light. 

Nor sadness sweet of gathering night. 

The holy calm of eventide 

Is all unknown where such abide. 

Her pulses may not thrill and glow 

To see the world clad white with snow. 

She ne'er may see great forests bow 

'Neath pyramids of snow, I trow ; 

Nor may she see the giant trees, 

Left naked by the autumn breeze. 

All clothed in diamonds — as it seems — 

And shining in the sun's bright beams. 

She may not sail the deep sea o'er, 

Nor press the yielding, sandy shore. 

She may not list the ocean's roar. 

Nor watch the eagle proudly soar. 

Nor hearken to the laughing brook. 

Nor slumber in a shady nook ; 

Nor feel, nor see, nor hear, nor know 

The wondrous marvels here below — 

All things with grace and beauty fraught, 

Which God's almighty hand hath wrought. 

Her bleeding heart and aching head 

Must rest upon a prison bed ; 

Within four walls her life be passed — 

Her ashes in the Ganges cast. 



96 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

Mr. Syed Mohammed, Aid-de-camp to His Excellency the 
Nawab Khurshed Jah. 

Hyderabad, November, lo, 1887. 

Miss Saleni Armstrong, M.D. 

Dear Doctor : I have much pleasure in introducing to you Mr. 
Syed Mohammed, Aid-de-camp to His Excellency the Nawab 
Khurshed Jah. Mr. Syed Mohammed desires an interview with 
you respecting medical attendance to the Begam of His Excellency 
the Nawab. 

I am expecting that your skill, under God, will restore the Begam 

to health. 

Most sincerely, 

S. P. Jacobs. 

The above letter explains itself. Shortly after 
its receipt Mr. Syed Mohammed, accompanied by 
several native physicians, was ushered into my 
presence. They came to engage me as family 
physician to His Excellency the Nawab Khurshed 
Jah, of Hyderabad, Deccan. Accordingly, on the 
22d day of November, 1887, several visits and let- 
ters having been exchanged in the interval, an ar- 
ticle of agreement was drawn up and written on 
English government stamped paper, according to 
law, and signed by both parties. 

The Nawab agreed to pay my professional fee of 
seventy-five rupees per day, in addition to all inci- 
dental and traveling expenses of myself and serv- 
ants, from the time of leaving home until my return. 

As this agreement may be somewhat curious and 
interesting in this country, we will here insert a fac- 
simile of the original document : 




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^rM*"^ /*,#»u«.^- ^tA,^-^ e-CKy-A- c*-t- ^tC^ C^-y^Of-'C—aiL.'cC '***,- <st.«^^ 





Fac-simile of Legal Agreement, Written on Government 
Stamped Paper. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 99 

EMISSARIES FROM HIS HIGHNESS SAGHT SING, 
THE MAHARAJAH OF BHINAI DISTRICT 

On the i8th day of May, 1888, while in my great 
Khetwady Castle home and hospital in Bombay, a 
kind note from Dr. James Arnott, of the Bombay 
Medical College, announced to me the arrival of 
emissaries from His Highness Saght Sing, the 
Maharajah of Bhinai district ; and presently my 
good butler ushered the gentlemen into my con- 
sulting office, where I sat alone with my inter- 
preter, Mrs. Moses. There were three of them, 
all small-sized native men, each attired in a dress 
peculiar to his individual rank and country. It 
was a great medico-legal consultation case to which 
these emissaries had come to call me. Physicians 
were expected from various parts of India, and 
they wished me to make the journey from Bombay 
to Ajmere in company with one Dr. William Dim- 
mock in time to meet the other physicians who 
would gather there. This I agreed to do in con- 
sideration of the, to the Maharajah, moderate fee 
of one thousand rupees and all expenses. This 
stipulation was readily agreed to, and the sum of 
one thousand two hundred and thirty-one rupees 
was paid into my hand in advance, with the under- 
standing that any expense exceeding this amount 
should be met by the Maharajah before my return 
from Ajmere. Accordingly, on the 21st instant, I 
received the following characteristic native letter 
from Lachmi Narain, one of the emissaries and the 



100 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

private secretary to His Highness the Maharajah, a 
copy of which I here insert : 

(An exact copy of original letter.) 

Duncan Road, 21st May, '88. 

Dr. Miss Armstrong, M.D., Esq., 

Pyn Hospital, Khetivady. 
Sir: 

I have the honour to solicit your goodself that please make ar- 
rangements for going to Ajmere ; because I have received the 
telegram to-day from Ajmere ; so I beg to enclose its copy here 
for your kind perusal. 

Will you kindl oblige me by letting me know that when your 
goodself have time after 4 o'clock this evening that I also may 
come to your Hospital. 

Please drop a line or two about your journey settlement and 
oblige. Excuse trouble. 
I am, sir, 

yours most obdy, 

LaCHMI Narain, Private Secretary 
to H. H. the Maharaja 

of Bhinai in Ajmere. 



FROM BOMBAY TO AJMERE 

In India, as in almost any part of Europe, one may 
travel first class, second class, intermediate, or third 
class, according to the proportions of the individual 
purse. The first class affords every comfort and 
luxury which the most exacting could desire, and 
is proportionately expensive. The first-class coach 
may open at the end or at the side. In either 
case before the train starts the doors are locked, 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 101 

and the first-class passenger is a prisoner in an 
elegant apartment, with broad, long, cushioned 
seats and a folding table, which can be extended at 
lunch time and closed afterward. There is also a 
very comfortable toilet room, provided with every 
convenience. On either side are the ordinary rail- 
way coach windows, provided with close shutters, 
which are usually kept tightly fastened during the 
hot season. In addition to these there is a large 
round hole in the center of each side of the car. 
This hole is filled with a thick, solid revolving 
wheel made of cuscus tatti, a fragrant grass or root 
peculiar to India, the lower half of which dips down 
into a deep trough filled with water. The wheel 
has a crank by which it may be turned around and 
around, thus saturating the whole of the cuscus. 
The hot air from without, passing through this 
wet, dripping grass, is cooled, and the traveler 
in the first-class compartment is comparatively 
comfortable. In some cases the cuscus tatti is ar- 
ranged differentl}^ the water dripping from above. 
The second-class carriage is similar to the first- 
class, except that the carriage is somewhat old and 
worn and less elegant. It has, however, all the 
comforts of the first, and is provided with every 
convenience, while the expense involved is only 
half that of the first-class. Very few people in 
India travel first class — a native prince, or rajah, or 
some of the high English government officials, 
perhaps. The majority of the wealthy, even, travel 
second class, while the masses — thousands and 



102 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

thousands of poor people — travel third class ; which 
is little, if any, better than a cattle car in Amer- 
ica. Here the natives, with their filth, their food, 
their bundles, well-nigh innumerable, their hnq- 
qiias, and their babies, are packed together like 
cattle in a stall. The intermediate compartment, 
however, is an improvement upon the third-class, 
thoueh far from beinof comfortable. It is a small 
place, about four by eight feet in size, having two 
narrow, straight, bare benches running lengthwise 
of the compartment — which is crosswise of the car. 
A narrow door opens at each end of the compart- 
ment. On either side of these doors there is a very 
small, narrow window. The floor is, of course, 
bare, and the ceiling very low. Altogether the 
place is small, crowded, dusty, close, hot, and very 
uncomfortable. 

The expense of an intermediate ticket is just 
double that of a third-class and half the price of a 
second-class ticket, and by some it is laughingly 
designated ''the missionary first-class," because the 
missionaries usually travel on an intermediate 
ticket. When, however, a physician is called to 
the home of a wealthy native that physician must 
travel first class if he or she would collect a first- 
class fee. If you take a second-class railroad pas- 
sage to the home of a wealthy patient, that wealthy 
patient will invariably conclude that you are a 
second-class doctor. If you travel intermediate or 
third class, you will be regarded as a third-class 
doctor, or less than that. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 103 

In Bengal native baboos who have attended the 
Calcutta Medical College for one term, and who 
have failed in their examination, abandon the idea 
of any further study of medicine, return to their 
homes, and hang out a sign upon which is written 

words to the following effect : ' ' Dr. Baboo ; 

failed first year ; fee, four annas" — that is, eight cents 
per visit. If he is so fortunate as to have success- 
fully passed his first examination, he continues an- 
other term ; and if he fail in the second examination, 
he will return to his home and announce himself as 

follows : ' ' Dr. Baboo ; failed second year ; 

fee, eight annas " — that is, sixteen cents per visit. 
If he be able to get through the second examina- 
tion and pass on to the end of the third year, and 
then fail, he will establish himself in practice with 
great confidence, and his sign will read: ''Dr. 

Baboo ; failed third year ; fee, one rupee " — 

about thirty-three cents per visit. Thus is a physi- 
cian's professional fee graded according to his 
qualifications. If you charge a small fee to a rich 
native, he will consider that you are a second or a 
third-class doctor. The larger your fee, the more 
expensive your method of travel, the larger your 
retinue of servants, the more trouble you require 
at the hands of your patients, the better your qual- 
ifications are supposed to be. A first-class doctor, 
it is commonly supposed, will charge a first-class 
fee, will travel in a first-class railroad carriage, and 
will be in all respects first-class, requiring first- 
class service from all his attendants. Therefore, 



104 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

while doing an immense amount of gratuitous 
practice for the poor, and carrying on a free dis- 
pensary for the lowest-caste people in Bombay, 
yet I charged a handsome fee when attending the 
rich native, and traveled first class on my way to 
his home. 

Ajmere is a very ancient city of Rajputana, 
which is the capital of the British district, about 
two hundred and twenty-eight miles by rail south- 
west of Agra. It is situated in a very beautiful 
and picturesque rocky valley, and is surrounded by 
a stone wall, which has three large gateways. It 
contains several mosques and temples of immense 
architecture. The Dargah, or tomb of Knaja, the 
Mussulman saint, is much venerated. Many of 
the streets of Ajmere are broad and contain fine 
residences. 

In 1 89 1 Ajmere had a population of 68,843, o^ 
whom about 26,683 were Hindus, and 18,702 Mo- 
hammedans. 

The journey from Bombay to Ajmere, a distance 
by rail of about six hundred and fifty miles, was a 
very tedious and trying one during the month of 
May, which is one of the hot months in this part 
of India. Fortunately, however, we arrived after 
sunset and were taken to a well-kept English hotel, 
where everything was done for our comfort. Huge 
punkas swinging from the ceiling of every room 
were kept in constant motion. Deep verandas sur- 
rounded the entire house. Every outside door had 
an extra hot-weather door, composed of solid cuscus 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 105 

tatti, thickly woven. Upon each of these doors a 
bucket of cold water was thrown at short intervals 
during the day. In this way the atmosphere of the 
rooms was made endurably cool, although the heat 
outside was so great as to render it hazardous for 
one to leave the house after seven o'clock in the 
morning or before six in the evening ; and even at 
seven o'clock P. m., taking a drive up and down the 
streets of Ajmere, the air strikes the cheek like the 
heated blast from a furnace, parching the lips and 
rendering the eyes, nostrils, and mouth dry. 



A CURIOUS MEDICO-LEGAL CONSULTATION 

The day for the consultation arrived ; and at the 
appointed hour we were ushered into the presence 
of His Highness Saght Sing, the Maharajah of 
Bhinai District. He seemed in every way a very 
ordinary Hindu. He was not acquainted with the 
English language, and so, of course, I conversed 
with him through my interpreter, whom I had taken 
with me from Bombay. The medico-legal question 
related to a young son, about a year old. The 
Maharajah claimed this child to be the son of his 
second legal wife ; but the Maharajah's brother 
disputed the matter. The Maharajah had been 
married to this particular one of his chief wives for 
many years, but she had nevere borne him any 
children ; and the Maharajah's title, estate, and all 
honors and wealth therewith connected seemed 



106 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

destined to go to his nephew, his brother's son. 
At length a male child was born in the home of 
this Maharajah, and he announced that Her High- 
ness Sarupkanwar Bai, the Maharani of Bhagore, 
his second legal wife, had borne him this son. 
Doubts as to the truth of this assertion were enter- 
tained from the beginning by his brother and 
others. At length the matter was brought to trial. 
Several medico-legal consultations had been held 
previous to this occasion, but in each particular 
case the several doctors had disagreed in their 
diagnoses, and their certificates had proven unsatis- 
factory. On the occasion of which we are writing 
the lady physicians from the Punjab, Calcutta, and 
other parts of India, who were expected, either dis- 
appointed the Maharajah altogether or arrived too 
late for the consultation. Consequently I was 
obliged to conduct the examination alone as, of 
course, the gentlemen physicians were not allowed 
to see the queen nor to enter the apartment which 
was occupied by her. 

Her Highness Sarupkanwar Bai, the Maharani, is 
a very tall, large-framed, and heavy Hindu woman. 
I found her in a rather large room, which was, how- 
ever, entirely without furniture. It had a bare ce- 
ment floor, with mud-plastered walls and ceiling. 
The place was so dark as to make it difficult to conduct 
a satisfactory examination. The queen was sur- 
rounded by a large company of native women — 
friends, relatives, personal attendants, and servants. 
She was dressed as she appears in the accompany- 





Her Highness Sarupkanwar Bai, The Maharani of Bhagore 
(A Hindu Queen) 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 109 

ing portrait, and held in her arms the young heir 
whom she claimed to be her son. She related to 
me the sad and pitiful story of her life. She told 
me that she had been sterile, and that for this 
reason her husband had hated and abused her in 
the most cruel manner. 

As I conducted the examination to the best of 
my ability under existing circumstances, Dr. Dim- 
mock, who had accompanied me from Bombay, 
stood outside of the locked and bolted door and 
called to me from time to time, asking the medical 
questions relating to the case which it was neces- 
sary for us to record, I shouting back the answers as 
rapidly as I was able to ascertain the true condition, 
my interpreter also taking notes. 

When the consultation was all over a lady physi- 
cian from the Punjab arrived on the scene. She 
had delayed in order to obtain her fee in advance, 
about which there had been a great dispute. 

After returning to our hotel I dictated to my in- 
terpreter the certificate, describing the condition of 
our patient as I had found it, and Dr. Dimmock 
signed the certificate with me. I never heard the 
result of the trial, and do not know whether or not 
the young son was proven to be the rightful heir to 
the Maharajah's title and estate. 

On account of the late arrival of the lady physi- 
cian from the Punjab Dr. Dimmock and myself 
were detained in Ajmere longer than was at first 
arranged for, being away from our homes in Bom- 
bay for a period of five days, instead of three, as 



110 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

was at first anticipated. In consideration of this 
undue detention in Ajmere His Highness the Ma- 
harajah paid me a further sum of eight hundred 
rupees, in addition to the one thousand two hun- 
dred and thirty-one rupees which I had received in 
advance. This sum of eight hundred rupees he 
sent to Bombay for me during my absence in 
Hyderabad, as will appear in the following letter 
from Lachmi Narain, his private secretary : 

(An exact copy of original letter.) 

Bhinai, 15th June, 1888. 
Rajputana. 
Dr. Miss Saleni Armstrong, M.D„ Esq., Bombay. 

Sir : I have the honour to inform you that, I had been to Bombay, 
after your leaving Ajinere, in the beginning of this month ; but I 
am very sorry that I had not pleasure of seeing you, as your goodself 
w^as at Haidrabad. 

I had given 800 eight hundreds to Dr. Dim mock & took the 
certificate. 

I hope I shall have the pleasure of seeing you there in the mean- 
time ; if God will help me. 

Please give my best regards to Miss L. L. Seity your asisstt & 
also to your interpreter. 

I hope your goodself are in the best enjoyment of good health. 
I shall be more lucky to hear from you about your v^^elfare. Please 
drop a line or two & oblige. 
Rao Sahib with kind regards. 

I have the honor to be Sir, Yours most obor 
I Kindl use ) Lachmi Narain, Pt Secretary to H. H. 

\ for address \ of Bhinai Distt. Ajmere, 

Rajputana. 

P. S. Kindl also send the receipt othe sum of Rupies 1231 
which was given by me to your goodself, for your fees of Ajmere 
Journey. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 111 

A PROFESSIONAL VISIT TO THE HAREM OF 
A MOHAMMEDAN PRINCE 

Within an liour after my return to Bombay 
from Ajmere I received a telegram from His 
Excellency Nawab Khurshed Jali, of Hyderabad, 
Deccan, calling me to that city for the purpose of 
treating his favorite wife, the ''Mad Begam," as 
she is familiarly called.-^. 

The Nawab is a Mohammedan prince of great 
influence, being second only to the Nizam himself 
in power, in position, in wealth, and in influence. 

Hyderabad is a characteristic native Mohamme- 
dan city, and is the capital of the Nizam's dominion 
of the same name, a great native or feudatory 
state, which occupies the larger part of the Deccan, 
or central plateau of Southern India, situated be- 
tween the provinces of Bombay and Madras ; and 
a distance of about three hundred and ninety miles 
by rail northwest of the latter city. 

Hyderabad is six miles in circumference, and is 
surrounded by a stone wall, flanked by bastions. 
In 1891 it had a population of 415,039. It is one 
of the principal strongholds of Mohammedanism 
in India, and has many mosques. Hyderabad 
stands on the right bank of the Musi, and is 1,700 
feet above the sea. The population consists of 
diverse elements, though nearly all Mohammedans, 
and is full of warlike spirit, nearly every man, 
woman, and child being armed with swords, knives, 
and daggers of various Indian device. It is said 



112 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

that Upon very slight provocation these Moham- 
medans will thrust a dagger to the heart of a friend 
or neighbor. A foreigner found within the city 
walls is liable to be murdered for the sake of a gold 
or silver ornament upon his person or a few rupees 
in his pocket. Murder is a common occurrence in 
Hyderabad, and the guilty are seldom brought to 
justice. On the day of our arrival, however, we 
saw seventeen Hyderabad men with their feet in 
chains and their hands fastened behind them. 
They had been arrested by the English govern- 
ment, were guarded by English officers, and were 
being taken into Bombay for trial under charge of 
murder. 

It is really hazardous for any foreigner — English, 
European, American, Hindu, or non-Mohammedan 
— to pass inside the walls of Hyderabad city except 
under the immediate protection of armed soldiers 
wearing the uniform of the Nizam or of some well- 
known Hyderabad prince. Indeed, many instances 
are recorded in which foreigners have ventured 
within the city walls unguarded and never been 
seen again. 

The railroad station is situated outside of Hyder- 
abad city, as the railway is not allowed to enter 
that native center. 

Upon my arrival I was met at the railway station 
by the Nawab's servants. For my conveyance he 
had sent three splendid English phaetons, the 
principal one of which was drawn by four thorough- 
bred English horses. The Nawab had evidently 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 113 

expected that I would bring with me a large retinue 
of servants, many personal attendants, and a large 
amount of baggage. Instead of which I had only 
my interpreter, and, as for baggage, only my small 
medicine and instrument bags ; so that the one fine 
carriage, drawn by the four horses, was quite sufficient 
to accommodate us both with all our luggage ; and 
the other two fine phaetons, with their four pran- 
cing steeds, followed on-behind empty. There were 
to each carriage two coachmen, dressed in fine uni- 
form, two footmen, and many soldiers, attired in 
the very handsome and striking uniform peculiar 
to the Nawab's soldiers; so that we had soldiers 
running on ahead, following behind, and running 
along at either side of our carriage. 

The poor natives who thronged the streets 
seemed to recognize the Nawab's soldiers and fine 
equipages, and the way was quickly cleared for us 
in advance. After driving through many of the 
chief streets of the city we finally came to the great 
wall which surrounds the Nawab's estate. The 
armed soldiers who stood guard at the great gate- 
way in this wall were ready with low salaams to 
admit us to his excellency's spacious grounds, and 
presently we drew up in front of the broad steps 
leading up to the Nawab's European palace. These 
steps were like those of a court house or some large 
public building rather than the entrance to a private 
residence. The house itself is a large two-story 
building, with great, deep verandas surrounding 
it on all sides. Several servants, in their pure 



114 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

white native garments and scarlet sashes, waited 
on the front steps to receive us, and the chief of 
these, the butler, ushered us into the spacious hall 
of the second floor, and left us alone to make our- 
selves at home. Before leaving us, however, he 
acquainted us with the fact that this building was 
kept expressly for the entertainment of the Nawab's 
English and European guests ; and that the place 
was ours while we remained in Hyderabad, supplied 
with a retinue of servants awaiting our orders. 



THE NAWAB'S EUROPEAN PALACE 

It is an immense place; the ceilings are very 
lofty and the rooms exceedingly large. The entire 
palace is European in style and furnishing — at least 
as far as oriental ideas permit. Any European, 
however, would recognize native taste in the selec- 
tion of the English furniture — sofas, chairs, and 
other furniture upholstered in the most brilliant 
blue, green, purple, orange, or scarlet velvet of the 
finest quality ; the carpets, brussels or velvet, of 
the most brilliant tints; mirrors extending from 
the floor to the lofty ceiling, and many feet in 
width, surrounded by massive gilt frames ; chande- 
liers reaching down from the ceiling with almost 
innumerable prismatic pendants dangling and shin- 
ing in the light. 

The butler glides noiselessly into the room and 
announces khana (dinner) ready, bowing low in a 
respectful salaam. The great dining room is equally 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 115 

elaborate and gaudy in its furnishing. The long 
dining table, however, is neatly and tastefully 
spread. No food is upon it except the fruit, and it 
is very tastefully and elaborately adorned with 
flowers in pretty English vases. 

As soon as we have taken our seats the soup is 
placed before us, and after this follows one course 
after another, each of which we taste — the fish, the 
roast and vegetables, curry and rice, etc., etc., until, 
finally, the pudding and the fruit ; after which, in 
real English fashion, the coffee is brought. Dinner 
over, my interpreter and I seat ourselves in the 
large front veranda, where we can enjoy the beauti- 
ful grounds which surround this European palace. 

The palace is surrounded by many armed soldiers, 
who walk up and down around the house, night and 
day, to protect the place and us. They are clad in 
the handsome uniform peculiar to the Nawab's 
soldiers. 

HIS EXCELLENCY NAWAB KHURSHED JAH 

As we sit upon the veranda we see coming across 
the lawn several native servants of the Nawab bear- 
ing trays in their hands, and as they approach nearer 
we observe that these trays are laden with fruit of 
many kinds, fine and luscious. Leaving their san- 
dals on the ground, they mount the great steps, and 
coming to where we sit, they present the fruit, bow- 
ing low in a respectful salaam. 

Later on we see other servants coming, bearing 
trays laden with flowers, and the above-described 



116 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

ceremony is gone through with by these also. Once 
again we see servants coming from the Nawab. 
This time they bring large portraits — one represent- 
ing the Nawab in his royal dress, another represent- 
ing the Nawab in his everyday costume counting his 
Mohammedan prayer beads and surrounded by his 
bodyguard of nine men, and in the third picture 
we have the full-length portrait of the Nawab's only 
son and heir. His Excellency the Nawab Shums-ud- 
Dawlah Shums-ul-Moolk. 

An hour or so later His Excellency the Nawab 
approaches, followed closely by his bodyguard armed 
with many knives, swords, and daggers of various 
native device. The Nawab is a short, somewhat 
corpulent, elderly gentleman, with gray hair, kind, 
intelligent eyes and a face with very few lines, but 
which you would judge to be the face of one pos- 
sessed of much true refinement and strength of 
character. He is dressed in pure white garments, 
including a small pjigrah. His feet are bare, but 
as he crosses the lawn he w^ears sandals, which he 
will drop from his feet before he steps upon the 
veranda of his European palace. 

After a very kind and somewhat flattering greet- 
ing his excellency describes the many painful symp- 
toms of his favorite wife's very serious and com- 
plicated diseases, and declares that she is so dear to 
him that he would gladly spend all his fortune for 
the sake of seeing her fully restored to health. He 
would willingly feed her upon diamonds, rubies, and 
pearls if he were sure that such a diet would prove 




His Excellency Nawab Khurshed Jah, of Hyderabad, Deccan 
In His Royal Dress 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 119 

beneficial. I assure him that these precious jewels, 
though beautiful to look upon, and great in their 
intrinsic value, are yet quite worthless as articles 
of diet, and could afford his wife no nourishment. 
After dwelling at some length upon the exact physi- 
cal and mental condition, past history, and present 
symptoms of his wife, he invites us to visit her in 
her zenana palace. In order to do this we must 
pass through several lawns, gardens, alleys between 
high walls, courtyards, and gateways, the latter be- 
ing guarded by armed soldiers. 

At length we come to a small, low gate in a great 
wall. This gate is guarded by women. As we 
halt here the bodyguard of his excellency the 
Nawab quietly retires, and we are left alone with 
the Nawab and the women in front of the little gate. 
The Nawab now fumbles among the folds of his 
white garments, and presently produces a huge brass 
key, with which he unlocks the immense brass pad- 
lock by means of which this small gate is made fast. 
The gate swings open, and the Nawab invites me to 
pass through. In order to do this I must step up 
and bow down — almost crawling through this hole 
in the wall, as it really is. My interpreter crawls 
through after me, and the Nawab himself follows. 
The Nawab now closes this little gate, and fastens 
it on the inner side with the same great brass pad- 
lock and brass key which were used on the outside ; 
and thus we stand, prisoners, within one of the 
zenana homes of this native prince. 

Looking about we see that we are in a somewhat 



120 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

large courtyard — possibly one hundred by one hun- 
dred and fifty feet in size. The walls surrounding 
us are very lofty, so that it would be impossible for 
any man to scale them. They are stone or brick, I 
do not know which, plastered over with mud. 

At the end near where we entered there are 
several small rooms, which are evidently occupied 
by the women-servants who throng the place. The 
two long sides have opening into them many great 
doors, like old-fashioned barn doors, which are 
fastened at the top with huge padlocks — all of them 
being now closed and locked. Each of these doors, 
as I learned afterward, opens into a tiny dark room 
of about ten or twelve feet square, having no win- 
dows and no furniture of any kind. The floor, 
walls, and ceiling are plastered over with mud. 
Each particular one of these rooms belongs to some 
one or more of the Nawab's one hundred concu- 
bines, who reside within this enclosure. 

The space between the walls — the open court — is 
very much littered. It has no grass on the dusty 
ground, which is rough and irregular. In the cen- 
ter there is the relic of what must have been at one 
time a fountain, but it has long since fallen into 
disuse, and is now only a wreck. In one corner 
may be seen the skeleton of an old tree. At the 
further end of this inclosure there is a deep veranda 
— so deep that it requires many pillars here and 
there underneath, at short intervals, to support the 
roof. The floor of the veranda is covered with a 
grass matting, woven by hand from reed grass. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 121 

The whole veranda seems thronging with women- 
folk — old and young, handsome and plain, large 
and small, strong and decrepit — one hundred and 
one, all counted. We cross the open courtyard and 
approach the veranda. The Nawab drops his 
sandals from his feet, and steps upon the matted 
floor of the veranda. My interpreter, who wears 
European dress, sits down and removes her shoes 
and stockings from her feet, intimating to me that 
I am expected to do the same. I hesitate, and my 
interpreter explains to the Nawab that I never go 
with bare feet in any home, whereupon he courte- 
ously requests me to allow my shoes and stockings 
to remain upon my feet, which I am glad to do. 

The Nawab now takes us to the center of the 
veranda, where, sitting with crossed legs upon the 
floor, we find the little " Mad Begam." Begam is 
a title and means princess, or the wife of a prince 
or nawab. The one hundred concubines stand 
about in respectful silence ; they never sit in the 
presence of the Nawab. The little princess on the 
floor is introduced by the Nawab, and I take her 
hand in American fashion. The Nawab now seats 
himself on the floor by her side, and invites my in- 
terpreter and myself to do the same ; but, observing 
a hesitancy on my part, the Nawab immediately 
arises, orders a chair to be brought, and stands 
until it comes ; this through respect for me. After 
much hurrying to and fro, and much vain search- 
ing, the little gate having been opened and a 
servant sent elsewhere in search of a chair, an old, 



122 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

broken kitchen chair is finally brought from some- 
where. It then apparently occurs to the Nawab 
that it is not courteous for him to sit upon the floor 
while I occupy a chair; and, therefore, he com- 
mands that a second chair be brought. After 
another delay of equal length and confusion an- 
other chair is finally produced, and we sit down 
comfortably near the little Begam ; the Nawab, 
however, drawing his feet up and sitting with his 
legs crossed in native style, as he would do upon 
the floor. 



HER EXCELLENCY THE BEGAM SAHIB 

The ''Mad Begam," as vShe is familiarly called 
by the Nawab's almost numberless servants, per- 
sonal attendants, concubines and wives, is a short, 
somewhat stout little woman of about forty. She is 
not a pretty woman, but has, nevertheless, a very 
attractive face and evidently a strong personality. 
Her wealth of long black hair, fine as silk, hangs in 
two straight braids down her back, nearly reaching 
the floor as she sits. Her great brown eyes are full 
of a strange, hopeless sadness and longing. Her 
countenance rarely changes in its expression, which 
is that of settled, hopeless melancholy. She is not 
originally a high-caste woman, nor has she always 
been a princess, nor always lived in a wealthy fam- 
ily, nor has she always been confined in a zenana 
home. She is a woman of low caste by birth, and 
of poor parentage. In her childhood she was a serv- 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 123 

ant to one of the Nawab's chief legal wives, and he 
fell in love with the little low-caste servant girl, who, 
in those days, was allowed to run out and in freely 
and without constraint. He then took her to be his 
wife — to be, indeed, one of his four chief wives ; for 
every Mohammedan is allowed to have four, each of 
whom is supposed to be a proper and legal wife. He 
may have many concubines also. Of course, when 
this little servant girl was exalted to the position of 
a princess, the chief wife of a Mohammedan prince, 
she was then doomed to close seclusion and confine- 
ment of the strictest kind in a zenana home. The 
first wife, who was this little girl's mistress in the 
beginning, became madly jealous, and soon there- 
after died, it is said, of a broken heart. 

I have a talk with my little patient, the '' Mad 
Begam," and she seems to grow more and more 
interested in what I have to say, asking many ques- 
tions. When I sing, however, she weeps much and 
finally begs me to desist, declaring that she cannot 
endure it; and this notwithstanding the fact that 
she cannot understand a word of the song, which is 
in my own English tongue. 



ANOTHER STRANGE MEDICAL CON- 
SULTATION 

After making a very careful and thorough ex- 
amination of my little patient I explain to the Nawab 
that his wife has no organic disease ; that her heart, 
lungs, liver, and all the organs of her body are quite 



124 WITHIN THE PURDAH • 

sound ; that the distressing symptoms which he has 
observed are of purely nervous origin and are the 
result of her manner of living — seclusion, lack of 
exercise, monotony, want of fresh air and sunshine, 
etc. The Nawab declares that we must have a con- 
sultation at once; and he immediately sends a serv- 
ant to call the six native physicians who are in his 
constant and exclusive employ. These men have 
been educated in England, are thoroughly qualified, 
and are his family physicians, receiving from him a 
handsome yearly vsalary. They come immediately, 
in answer to his summons, and wait outside of the 
little gate until he shall be ready to admit them. 

Ninety-six of the one hundred concubines now 
flee away, each of them hiding herself in the par- 
ticular little dark padlocked room which she claims 
as her own, or perhaps shares with another. The 
remaining four of the concubines bring four im- 
mense rugs, and each of the four takes hold of one 
corner of two rugs, standing around the little patient 
in such a manner, holding the rugs above their 
heads, as to conceal entirely from outside view not 
only the little patient who sits in the center between 
them on the floor, but also their own persons. 

When these preliminary arrangements are satis- 
factorily adjusted the Nawab admits the six native 
family physicians through the little padlocked gate 
into the zenana courtyard ; and they all cross over to 
the veranda, drop their sandals, and come and take 
their seats on the floor near my chair. I then kneel 
down on the floor, just outside of the hanging rugs, 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 125 

put my hand under the lower margin, and cover- 
ing the tiny hand of my little patient with my own 
large palm, I draw her wee wrist to the edge and 
place the finger of the doctors, each in turn, on the 
pulse of my patient, until all have an opportunity to 
count the pulsation for themselves, and this with- 
out seeing any part of the Begam's person. 

The native of India takes it for granted that 
physicians are so clever and so skillful in the prac- 
tice of their profession that they are able to know 
and understand the exact condition of the brain, 
heart, lungs, spleen, liver, and every other organ of 
the body by the simple heart-throb as felt at the 
wrist. Fortunately, however, for the doctors in this 
consultation, I had been able to make a more thor- 
ough examination, and could tell them the real con- 
dition, as I had found it by a minute, careful, and 
thorough search. When I had given this full ex- 
planation we all agreed in our diagnosis and pro- 
nounced the disease hysteria. This was not so 
difficult a matter as the selection of appropriate and 
acceptable remedies proved to be. 

I had brought with me from Bombay my little 
medicine bag, containing a variety of useful drugs. 
On this occasion, however, I found it quite useless. 
His Excellency the Nawab Khurshed Jah would not, 
under any consideration, use one particle of medi- 
cine from my bag. It had been compounded by 
Christian hands and contaminated by Christian 
handling, and would therefore break the caste of his 
wife and family. He had a huge medicine chest of 



126 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

his own, which was now wheeled out from one of 
the dark rooms adjoining this veranda. We find 
that this medicine chest contains almost every phar- 
maceutical preparation and remedial agent named in 
the British Pharmacopoeia. 

I suggest a simple, efficient remedy, which I think 
will meet the case and allay the most distressing 
nervous symptoms. The Nawab immediately de- 
clares that he knows the drug, he has tried it, and it is 
of no avail. I suggest another remedy, and another, 
and another, with the same result. Indeed I soon find 
that the Nawab is well acquainted with almost every 
drug contained in his medicine chest, and that they 
have all been tried and proven valueless, at least in 
this particular case. I then suggest a combination 
of drugs which, fortunately, has never been tried. 
This the native physicians in consultation all in- 
dorse, and the Nawab agrees to give it a trial. Of 
course I must compound the medicine, as I have been 
called all the way from Bombay to attend this par- 
ticular case. The medicine is therefore prepared 
by my hand, under the immediate eye of the Nawab 
and his six doctors ; each of whom watches me with 
the keenest and most critical eye to make sure that 
I do not, by any sleight of hand or otherwise, intro- 
duce any drug of my own which I may have con- 
cealed about my person, or any water or liquid of 
any kind which has been contaminated by the touch 
of a Christian hand. 

Formerly it was the custom in this home, and in 
all wealthy high-caste native homes, to prepare 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 127 

at the same time two doses, exactly alike, one of 
which was to be first taken by the doctor in attend- 
ance. Then, after a period of two hours or such a 
matter, if no ominous symptoms manifested them- 
selves, the remaining dose was administered to the 
patient. Before my time, fortunately for me, this 
custom had been objected to by some attending 
physician, and, as a result, two of the concubines 
had been condemned to take the trial dose. There- 
fore on this occasion I was instructed to compound 
three powders instead of one. We had decided upon 
powders, because any liquid which has been touched 
by Christians or by any person of low caste can never 
be allowed to pass the lips of a high-caste native. 
Even a pill must have some liquid '' sticking stuff " 
to hold it together, and therefore, under the circum- 
stances, a powder was the only remedy that could 
be administered. Three powders I make, weighing 
and dividing and mixing each in precisely the same 
manner, and in the same proportions. This done, 
the six native doctors are allowed to withdraw ; they 
pass out through the little gate, and we are again 
locked in. Now the rugs are dropped and two of 
the concubines come forward to receive one each of 
the powders. This they do without any apparent 
trepidation. I must now wait two hours at least to 
watch the result of these doses. At the expiration 
of this time, as no dire symptoms manifest them- 
selves, with great fear and trepidation the Nawab 
permits me to administer the remaining powder to 
his favorite wife, the " Mad Begam." After this I 



128 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

must, of course, remain for several hours to watch the 
result. During this season of waiting and watching 
the Nawab frequently interrogates his wife as to her 
feelings. At length he becomes much agitated, be- 
gins to wring his hands, paces the floor in great agi- 
tation, weeps, counts his beads in prayer, falls on 
his face in an agony of anxiety and distress ; and, 
finally, coming to me, he implores me to do some- 
thing for the relief of his dear wife. He is sure she 
must be suffering. He can tell, by the sad cast of 
her countenance, that she is ill and in pain. 

I am still somewhat of a stranger in India ; and 
not being well acquainted with the ways and meth- 
ods and characteristics of the natives, I believe this 
man to be entirely sincere and honest, and greatly 
alarmed, and so I assure him that there is no or- 
ganic disease upon his wife ; that she is not in any 
sense seriously ill; that the nervous trouble from 
which she suffers is due purely and solely to her 
secluded, inactive, monotonous life ; that she may 
suffer in this way for many, many years, but that 
she can never die from this disease. To my great 
astonishment His Excellency the Nawab does not 
appear to be relieved in the least degree. He weeps 
the more, wringing his hands, pacing the floor, 
prostrating himself on the ground, and groaning 
aloud. Finally he comes to me again and declares 
that we must have another consultation. The cere- 
monies above described are gone through with again, 
and again, and again. I remain in Hyderabad for two 
weeks. During this time I meet the six native 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 129 

doctors in consultation several times each day, al- 
ways in precisely the same manner and always 
with precisely the same result. 

The little "Mad Begam Sahib" proved to be a 
very gentle, sweet, attractive little woman, possess- 
ing much real strength of character, and my sym- 
pathies were all with her. Who could blame her 
if, amid such surroundings, she had grown restive, 
fanciful, morose, irritable, jealous, ill-tempered 
even, and hysterical ? The wonder grew upon me 
that she did not under such circumstances go rav- 
ing crazy mad, as you and I would surely do if im- 
prisoned, idle, helpless, and in all respects in her 
situation. The fact is she was not " mad." Her 
reason had never forsaken her nor her mind lost its 
equilibrium in any degree. She was only nervous, 
irritable, jealous, and hysterical — unhappy, as all 
zenana women must be. 

From morning until night, through all the days, 
weeks, months, and years of her life she is expected 
to sit quietly upon this veranda, without any occu- 
pation whatever. As intimated on foregoing pages, 
she cannot read nor write, sew, knit, weave, nor en- 
gage in any domestic occupation whatever. She is 
not permitted to bathe her own person nor dress her 
own hair nor make her own toilet. Has she not a 
hundred slave girls to do her bidding? They per- 
form every service that she requires and wait upon 
her continually ; she may only take the curry and 
rice, which is her sole diet, in her fingers from the 
brass plate to her mouth. She has no toys to oc- 



130 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

cupy her attention, no games with which to amuse 
herself and those about her, no pictures to look 
upon. 

At one time, as the Nawab himself informed me, 
he conceived the idea of erecting an art gallery for 
the amusement of his wives and concubines. This 
he did. The great picture hall was lighted from 
above of necessity, as it must be a zenana place. 
He sent to England for portraits of the royal family 
and many other distinguished personages, and gath- 
ered from many sources portraits of eminent indi- 
viduals, until he had a large collection, enough to 
cover the walls of his art gallery. When all things 
were ready he invited his wives to visit his new art 
gallery. They did so ; but as soon as they beheld 
the faces of men and women hanging upon the 
walls, having never before seen a picture, they took 
fright and fled away in alarm, imagining that they 
had seen ghosts and that these pictures must surely 
be able to speak, to grasp, and to pursue. Never 
again could the Nawab persuade any of his wives 
to return to the "■ haunted hall." 



THE NAWAB'S SIX PALACES 

Ostensibly and professedly I had been called from 
Bombay to Hyderabad for the express and sole pur- 
pose of attending upon and treating this favorite 
wife of His Excellency the Nawab. In truth, how- 
ever, I did attend other members of the Nawab's 
great family. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 131 

In the late evening, unattended by his bodyguard 
of nine men, without the knowledge of any of his 
personal attendants, without the knowledge of 
his favorite wife or of any of the one hundred con- 
cubines that serve her in the capacity of slaves, 
without the knowledge of any individual, save 
that of my interpreter and myself, I was conducted 
by the Nawab, quietly and stealthily, to visit his 
three other chief wives in his three other zenana 
palaces. 

I found each of these zenana palaces precisely 
like the one I first visited, and which I have de- 
scribed, where his favorite wife resides. I found 
each one of these three chief wives surrounded by 
one hundred slave girls, who are the Nawab's con- 
cubines ; so that His Excellency the Nawab Khur- 
shed Jah has no less than four principal legal wives 
and four hundred lesser wives or concubines, each 
one of the four chief wives being attended upon 
and surrounded by one hundred of the lesser 
wives or concubines, who serve her as slaves in 
a zenana palace of her own like the one first de- 
scribed. 

These other three wives, however, treated the 
Nawab with greater respect, apparently, than did 
his favorite wife, the " Mad Begam." None of the 
three ever sat down in his presence, though two of 
them were really ill and not properly able to sit up 
at all. To these three wives I was permitted to ad- 
minister my own medicine from my own medicine 
bag and without consultation or ceremony of any 



132 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

kind. I was, however, instructed to maintain ab- 
solute secrecy in regard to these visits, and to re- 
gard the whole matter as strictly confidential. 

In addition to the four zenana palaces and the 
European palace already described, His Excellency 
Nawab Khurshed Jah has a private palace of his 
own, where he delights to entertain his English, 
European, and American guests. We had the 
pleasure of visiting this palace also. It is furnished 
in a more elaborate style and more gorgeously than 
the European palace ; but it is not in itself so large 
as the former nor has it so many rooms. 

In addition to the gorgeously upholstered furni- 
ture, chandeliers, huge mirrors, etc., the Nawab's 
private palace contains many curious articles which 
in themselves are interesting specimens of the lavish 
and unparalleled extravagance of a wealthy na- 
tive of India. To illustrate, a clock in the 
Nawab's palace, reaching from the floor to the 
ceiling and studded with jewels, cost him, as the 
Nawab himself assured me, several lakhs of ru- 
pees. He also showed me music boxes brought 
from England which cost him fabulous sums of 
money. 

Altogether we visited six palaces within the great 
walls which surround the Nawab's estate — our 
zenana palaces, the European palace, and the 
Nawab's private palace, where he entertains his 
foreign guests, the two latter being surrounded by 
beautiful lawns containing rare trees, plants, and 
fountains. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 133 

A DIET OF COSTLY GEMS 

At the expiration of our two weeks' stay in Hy- 
derabad the Nawab paid me the professional fee 
agreed upon and begged me to close my hospital in 
Bombay, settle my business there, and arrange to 
remain in Hyderabad as family physician to his 
household. He offered me a salary of one thousand 
rupees per month, together with the exclusive use 
of his European palace free of rental, and all its 
staff of servants to be paid by himself. I declined 
his offer, because I loved the work for the poor 
which I was doing in Bombay and because I love 
medicine. Everything in connection with the 
practice of my profession is a pure delight to me. 
I could not feel willing to spend my life in the 
manner in which I had spent the last two weeks. 
I was not willing to act a farce, nor to make the 
practice of my loved profession a mere play, and so 
I returned to my home, to my hospital, and to my 
charity practice in Bombay. 

Later on, when the Nawab visited Bombay, I met 
several of the native doctors in his employ whom I 
had met in consultation during my visit to Hyder- 
abad. One of them informed me that after my 
departure from Hyderabad the Nawab had called a 
native doctor from a distant city, to whom he made 
the same remark in regard to feeding his favorite 
Begam upon jewels which I had heard from him. 
This native doctor replied that he was delighted to 
hear the Nawab express himself thus, as pulverized 



134 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

gems was just the remedy that would surely avail 
to cure her disease. He had feared to advise such 
a course of diet an account of the enormous expense 
which it would involve, but if his excellency were 
really willing to expend so much money for the sake 
of restoring his wife's health, her recovery would 
be certain. When the Nawab assured the physician 
of his willingness to do this the doctor immediately 
returned to the distant city and procured a machine 
for grinding diamonds, rubies, and pearls. Upon 
his return to Hyderabad the jewels were dropped 
into a little opening in the top of this machine ; a 
crank was then turned and grinding ensued. 
Presently a shining powder was emitted from a 
certain troughlike exit, and this shining powder 
was divided into doses and administered to the 
favorite Begam at specified intervals. 

Doubtless the diamonds, rubies, and pearls 
dropped straight into the pocket of the native 
doctor, and, most probably, the Nawab suspected 
the truth, for he was too much of a native himself 
not to see through such a deception ; but for the 
sake of deceiving his wife, for the sake of making 
her believe that he was wasting his fortune upon 
her because she, and she only, was the one woman 
who held his heart's best affection, therefore he 
was willing to seem to be deceived himself and go 
to the enormous expense necessarily involved. 

During this same visit of the Nawab Khurshed 
Jah to Bombay I received from him a box of Hy- 
derabad weapons, together with a brief note, bear- 



IN THE ZENANAHOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 135 

ing the Nawab's coat of arms and his own signature, 
in the Hindustani language. 

(An exact copy of original letter.) 

Mahalusumri Station, 21st February, 1888. 

To Dr. Armstrong, M.D., Khartwodi. 

Dear Madam : Once, while you were in Hyderabad, I remem- 
ber, you expressed a desire for some of the Hyderabad weapons, 
so I have send for some of the arms from Hyderabad for you, 
which I send herewith per bearer. I hope you will like them. 
Hoping you are in the enjoyment of good health. 

Yours sincerely, 

Khurshed Jah. 

HIS EXCELLENCY DEW AN LUCHMAN DASS, 
• EX-PRIME MINISTER OF KASHMIR 

On the sixth day of December, 1889, I received 
a telegram from His Excellency Dewan Luchman 
Dass, ex-Prime Minister of Kashmir, calling me to 
the native town of Eminabad to attend upon his 
two wives, Dalie and Molie Luchman Dass. 

A run of two hours by rail from Lahore, Punjab, 
brings me to the small railroad station of Kamoki. 
Here two of the Dewan's English menservants — 
Mr. Gerard, the Dewan's private secretary, and Mr. 
Bowden, his horse trainer — meet me, and I am 
driven in a fine, large English carriage, drawn by 
two thoroughbred English horses, to Eminabad, 
where the Dewan resides in the great old zenana 
home built by his father in the prime of his life 
and during the years of his greatest prosperity. 



136 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

Passing two or more small native villages, we at 
length approach a high stone wall surrounding the 
Dewan's gardens. Driving along on the outside of 
this wall, we at length enter a road passing down 
between two very lofty stone walls, and presently 
alight in front of a massive gateway opening through 
one of these walls. This gate is always securely 
locked and bolted on the inner side. 

Here His Excellency the Dewan himself meets 
us, dressed in a handsome costume which is neither 
purely native nor purely English, but really is a 
native costume modified to suit English style. 

The Dewan is a large man, nearly six feet in 
height and somewhat corpulent, but exceptionally 
fine looking and prepossessing in appearance, and 
his native European costume becomes him well. 
He is a high-caste Hindu, is well educated, both in 
his own and in the English language, and is very 
clever. Indeed, he is recognized as the most clever 
and efficient prime minister Kashmir has ever 
known. His father was immensely wealthy, but 
he left his property to his widow, the Dewan's 
mother, who still lives in the old home near her 
son. The Dewan is a great spendthrift, getting 
through several lakhs (hundred thousand) of rupees 
in a single year. Now, however, that he has spent 
the larger part of his own personal fortune, he is 
largely dependent upon his widowed mother for 
support, and she wisely and with a jealous hand 
metes out to him a certain monthly allowance. 

The Dewan, on this occasion of my first visit, re- 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 139 

ceives me with that courteous hospitality, cordial 
warmth, and respectful politeness which is a char- 
acteristic of the wealthy high-caste native gentle- 
man. This formality over, we alight from the car- 
riage and crawl through a small square gate in the 
lower part of the great gate, which remains locked 
and bolted. This tiny gate is again locked behind 
us, and we find ourselves in a rather small and 
much-littered courtyard. Crossing to the opposite 
side, we come upon an immense veranda leading by 
several doors into a great hall capable of accommo- 
dating several hundred people. Here we meet Mrs. 
Gerard and other members of the Gerard family. 
Presently the Dewan conducts my interpreter and 
myself up several flights of stairs, each of which is 
extremely narrow, steep, broken, and irregular. 
Passing through several halls and narrow passages, 
we finally emerge into a lighter place, and find our- 
selves in a very large, deep veranda, projecting 
from the third or fourth story of this immense 
building, and entirely surrounding the four sides 
of the square courtyard which is in the center of the 
building. Walking around this veranda, we are 
finally conducted through several small, rather dark 
rooms, each of which is nearly empty, and at length 
we are ushered into a rather pleasant apartment 
about twelve by twenty feet in size. Like all the 
rooms we have seen in this great Hindu castle, the 
walls and ceiling are entirely covered with gaudy 
paintings representing hideous Hindu deities. 
There are several chairs in this room, and a native 



140 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

cot, Upon which is a pure silk down comfortable and 
a cashmeri shawl of immense size and fabulous cost. 
Every four or five feet around there are small 
square niches in the wall, forming shelves. Upon 
several of these shelves may be seen very exquisite 
little English clocks, ornamented with costly gems ; 
and the whole apartment is littered with a large va- 
riety of rare and costly English articles — real sole- 
leather trunks of the most expensive kind, real alli- 
gator traveling bags, music boxes, and costly guns, 
revolvers, etc. 



THE WIVES AND DAUGHTER OF DEW AN 
LUCHMAN DASS 

In this Indo-European room we find the two na- 
tive wives of the Dewan, Dalie and Molie, in their 
beautiful and graceful pure silk Punjabi costumes, 
and adorned with almost numberless pure Indian 
gold (said to be the finest and most valuable gold 
in the world) rings, bracelets, necklaces, anklets, toe 
rings, and hair ornaments — all studded with costly 
gems of many kinds, and almost priceless in value. 

The Dewan's first wife died some years ago. 
Dalie is his second wife. She is a Mohammedan, 
although the Dewan himself is a high-caste Hindu. 
Of course he broke his caste in marrying a Moham- 
medan woman, but being a very wealthy man, with 
influence, title, and position, this fact is ignored by 
his people, and he continues to occupy a position at 
the head of his caste. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 143 

Dalie, however, does not eat at the same table 
with her husband, nor touch his food, nor touch 
him while he is eating, nor touch any vessel from 
which he may ever take food. She sits apart by 
herself during meals, but near enough to her hus- 
band to be able to carry on conversation with him. 
She is the favorite wife, and her marriage was a 
love match. 

Dalie is an attractive little woman, about five feet 
two inches in height, and weighing about one hun- 
dred and thirty pounds. She has a clear olive skin, 
large black eyes, long shining black hair, and 
beautiful hands. Her countenance is not, perhaps, 
beautiful, but is very attractive, intelligent, and 
kindly in its expression. She is conceded by all to 
be thoroughly unselfish, kind-hearted, and patient, 
and is universally beloved. 

Molie is the Dewan's third wife. She is shorter 
and more slender than Dalie, with a fair com- 
plexion and a prettier face, but not equally amiable. 
The Dewan was married to Molie in accordance 
with the advice of the King of Kashmir and others 
in authority, because she is a woman of his own 
caste and of wealthy parentage, and in all respects 
deemed to be a suitable wife for His Excellency the 
Dewan. 

Blanche Gerard is, in truth though not ostensi- 
bly, the Dewan's fourth wife. Of pure English 
blood, though born in India, Blanche Gerard Luch- 
man Dass is the daughter of the Dewan's private 
secretary, and was bought for a price. She is a 



144 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

very pretty girl in both form and feature ; graceful 
in every motion, and as beautiful in spirit and amia- 
ble in disposition as she is fair of face and graceful 
of motion. She loves the Dewan with all the inten- 
sity of her young, ardent nature, and is willing to 
sacrifice her life, good name, character, and even 
her soul for his sake. 

Little Jannoo is the Dewan's only child. She is 
a beautiful, bright girl of six years, and the De- 
wan's idol. She is supposed to be the daughter of 
Dalie, whom she calls mamma, but she is, in fact, 
the daughter of the family laundress, who has 
served since Jannoo's birth as her nurse and serv- 
ant. Little Jannoo addresses Molie as '* Aunt," or, 
in the native tongue, '' the sister of my mother;" 
while fair Blanche ostensibly holds the position of 
governess to Jannoo. 

Such is the family of Dewan Luchman Dass. He 
has also many servants, more than one hundred in 
number. His possessions are very great. In addi- 
tion to the immense castle where he resides, and 
which is more like a great town than a private resi- 
dence, he owns in his own right some thirty vil- 
lages, and all the land connected therewith and sur- 
rounding them for a distance of several miles. The 
rental from these villages amounts to more than 
one hundred thousand rupees per annum ; and yet 
this sum is not nearly enough to satisfy the numer- 
ous wants of his excellency, and at frequent inter- 
vals he is obliged to draw large sums from his 
mother. The Dewan is considered to be a great 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 145 

Spendthrift. He owns many fine English carriages 
of various styles and fifty thoroughbred English 
horses, some of them being exceedingly valuable 
on account of their great speed. 



MRS, LUCHMAN DASS, THE RICH HINDU 

WIDOW 

Mrs. Luchman Dass, the Dewan's mother, was 
at this time supposed to be the richest woman in 
India, if not the richest individual. She lives in 
one small room, like the one above described, except 
smaller, and without the signs of lavish expenditure 
for English luxuries which we observed in the 
former. This little room is also on the third or 
fourth floor, but is in an entirely different part of 
the great castle. Her dress consists of the one sin- 
gle coarse garment peculiar to the high -caste Hindu 
widow, only partly concealing her person. 

Leading from this room, which is occupied by 
Mrs. Luchman Dass alone, there are several other 
small dark rooms, each of which is filled from the 
floor to the ceiling with pure gold and silver coin. 
The doors leading to these rooms are like great barn 
doors, and are all fastened at the top with great 
brass padlocks to which Mrs. Luchman Dass herself 
carries the keys. Also underneath this great castle 
trenches have been made in which great iron tubes 
full of solid gold and silver coin are buried. This 
was done by the Dewan's father. 



146 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

The Dewan on one occasion took me over to pay 
his mother a professional visit. She was, at this 
time, a woman of sixty-five or seventy years of age, 
a bigoted high-caste Hindu. At the time of her 
husband's death she fain would have burned herself 
on his funeral pyre, but the English law prohibited 
all such acts of self-destruction. On this account, 
during all the years which have elapsed since her 
husband's death, Mrs. Luchman Dass has daily in- 
flicted upon herself all manner of penance and pri- 
vation, in token of her fidelity to her husband. She 
wears no ornaments of any kind, her hair is cut 
short, she takes but one scant and insufficient meal 
a day, and she inflicts upon herself many other 
tortures which I am unable here to describe. She 
allowed me to examine her carefully and thor- 
oughly, but when I offered to administer certain 
medicines from my little medicine bag she imme- 
diately informed me that she could not, on any ac- 
count, take any medicine from my hand, as she 
feared it might contain some liquid which would 
break her caste, coming thus from a Christian hand. 
I offered her medicine in the form of dry powder, 
but she still refused to take it. I then offered to 
bring drugs in dry form from Lahore, and compound 
the powder in her presence, but, although she con- 
sented to have me do this, she did it in such a man- 
ner as to make me doubt whether she really intended 
to take the medicine thus prepared. 

After examining and prescribing for my poor 
rich patient I spent an hour or so in personal con- 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 147 

versation with her — she talking freely about herself 
and family. Very soon she grew interested, and ap- 
parently gave me her fullest confidence, and as I 
was about to take my departure she slipped upon 
my finger a gold ring set with coral, which she asked 
me to keep in memory of her. 

I have now described my first professional visit 
to the home of Dewan Luchman Dass and to the 
home of his widowed inother. On this occasion His 
Excellency the Dewan engaged me by the year, for 
an indefinite period of time, as his family physician, 
and agreed to pay me the sum of six hundred and 
fifty rupees per month in addition to all traveling 
and other incidental expenses of myself and my in- 
terpreter. Later on, however, the Dewan volun- 
tarily provided me with a beautiful home in Lahore, 
the second finest house in that town, all beautifully 
furnished with rosewood and mahogany furniture, 
Brussels carpets, rugs, china, pictures, and every- 
thinof needed to render a fine house comfortable, 
elegant, and homelike. It also had spacious grounds 
about it, with flower garden, vegetable garden, 
servants' quarters, etc., etc., so that he estimated my 
salary to be really equivalent to eight hundred and 
fifty rupees per month. 

In the course of the months while I was family 
physician to Dewan Luchman Dass I became deeply 
attached to Dalie, Molie, Blanche, and little Jannoo, 
and much interested in the Dewan himself. Indeed, 
I had many long, earnest conversations with the 
latter relating to religious matters, and he often 



148 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

assured me that before he knew me he had lost 
faith in all religions, and neither believed in the 
Mohammedan, the Hindu, nor the Christian faith; 
but since his conversations with me and his ac- 
quaintance with my life he had come to believe in 
the Christian religion and to have faith in God and 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, assuring me that now he 
often prayed to God, in Jesus's name, asking for 
guidance, help, and blessing, such as I enjoyed my- 
self and of which I had so often spoken. 

The Dewan is an exceptional native in being a 
man of broad, liberal views. He has adopted many 
English and European customs and habits of life. 
Unlike the ordinary wealthy native, he does not 
confine his women folk in strict zenana seclusion, 
and would gladly allow them to throw off the 
purdah altogether if they were willing to do so. 
Occasionally he takes his wives for a drive in one of 
his closed carriages, and it is said he sometimes takes 
them, in the late evening and by way of country 
roads, in an open carriage. Of course in the latter 
case the ladies are concealed from public gaze by 
their close purdah garments, which fall from the 
head to the floor, entirely covering the person. 

It was my custom to visit my patients at Emin- 
abad two or three times a week, according to the 
need, but I was often called by wire for extra visits 
in cases of special emergency. I found them always 
very kind-hearted, sympathetic, and affectionate. 
They fully reciprocated my affection and looked for- 
ward to my visits with great interest and pleasure. 




Rare Trophies Described in Accompanying Pages. 

I, 2, The Nawab's Sword and Dagger. 3, The Tiny Crimson Bag. 4, The Little 
Bag Studded with Mirrors. 5, 6, The Two Dolls Made by the Peer's Daughter. 7, The 
Gold Calendar Watch which belonged to His Highness Ahmed Singh, King of Kash- 
mir. 8, An Indian Cot. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 151 

On the seventh day of October, 1890, the Dewan 
presented me with a valuable hunting-case, eight- 
een-carat gold watch, said to be worth about seven 
hundred and fifty rupees. The watch was origi- 
nally a gift from His Highness Ahmed Singh, the 
King of Kashmir, to the Dewan, and bears the 
king's monogram on the front of its outer case. It 
is not only a watch, but is also a perpetual calendar, 
having in addition to the hour, minute, and second 
hands two little hands, one of which indicates the 
day of the week and the other the date of the 
month. The inscription, which is beautifully en- 
graved on the outside of the inner case, reads as 
follows : ' ' From Dewan Luchman Dass to Dr. 
Saleni Armstrong, Eminabad, Punjab, India, 
7-io-'90." 

October 13, 1890, I met with a railway accident 
which crippled me for a period of two and a half 
years, and obliged me to resign my position as 
family physician to His Excellency Dewan Luch- 
man Dass. 

Since the railway accident above referred to, and 
the resignation of my position as family physician 
to the Dewan's household, Mrs. Luchman Dass, the 
Dewan's mother, has died ; her remains have been 
burned and her ashes cast into the waters of the 
Ganges. The Dewan being the only surviving son 
of his father, inherited his mother's immense for- 
tune, and it is stated that he hauled fifty lakhs of 
rupees in solid gold and silver from Eminabad to 

the English banks of Lahore. 
9 



152 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

THE PEER 

It was a hot, sultry day in India, and, as usual, 
I was very busy in the operating room of the Gov- 
ernment Hospital of Hyderabad, Sindh, to which in- 
stitution I filled the position of physician-in -charge 
by English government appointment. Through the 
open lattice work, which intervenes between the 
great, broad pillars of the veranda and the reed- 
grass chicks which curtain the open doors, I heard 
an unusual commotion, and, looking out, saw the 
servants, nurses, everybody about the place, rushing 
from the back to the front of the house, where an 
old, white-haired, long-bearded, distinguished-look- 
ing native gentleman was alighting, with the supple- 
ness and agility of a youth, from a fine Arabian 
horse, blue-black and glossy as a raven's shining 
breast. He was surrounded by a bodyguard of 
many Mohammedan men, all of whom were bow- 
ing before him as if in worship. My Mohammedan 
servants also, as soon as he had alighted from his 
horse, bowed down before him until their foreheads 
touched the earth. 

Presently my interpreter, rushing into the hos- 
pital, exclaimed in a most excited manner, ' * The 
peer is here and wants to see the doctor Sahib ! " 
' ' Give him a seat in my office, " said I, ' ' and let him 
wait; I will be there presently.". *' O, doctor Sahib, 
how can I ask him to wait ? It is the peer, and he 
seems in great haste! " " And who is this peer," 
said I, '' who cannot be asked to wait? " O, he is 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 153 

a very great man and a very great saint ; all Mo- 
hammedans worship him and all Hindus seek his 
life, and the English government is pledged to pro- 
tect him ; and he wears a sword and knives which 
were presented to him by an English government 
official ; and he has authority to slay anyone who 
dares to attack him." All this was rattled off in a 
breath and in the most excited manner. ''Well," 
said I, '' you need not ask him to wait; I will go at 
once." 

As I entered my office I saw the peer standing in 
the middle of the room in an attitude and with an 
air which reminded me of a wild bird of prey which 
had alighted upon the earth for a moment, with 
half-poised pinions, ready to take flight at the 
slightest alarm. 

With the grace and courtesy of a knight of the 
olden times he bowed himself when I entered, 
kissed my hand, and told me that he was " a beg- 
gar; " that his daughter, the joy and delight of his 
life, was very seriously, dangerously ill, and he had 
come to beg me to go without delay to save her life. 
He had no money to pay me, but he would give his 
life, he would do anything for me, if I would only 
save his daughter. When I consented to go the peer 
spoke a word to one of the Mohammedan men, who 
waited, bowing, at the door, and presently a dozen 
Mohammedan men rushed off to engage a carriage 
for my conveyance, and in an incredibly short time 
many carriages drove up in front of the hospital 
gate. It was not because I had ordered them, but 



154 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

because the peer had need of a carriage, that so 
many came and waited and begged for the privilege 
of doing the service. Not for filthy lucre, not one 
of them would accept a pie (a small Indian coin 
worth about one sixth of a cent) from the peer for 
any service which they might be able to render. 
They consider him to be the greatest saint on 
earth ; and esteem themselves most highly priv- 
ileged if they are permitted to do him a service, and 
thus, perhaps, receive his blessing. The peer waited 
until he saw my interpreter and myself safely seated 
in one of the best of the carriages in waiting, and then 
he mounted his steed and fairly flew over the coun- 
try, out from the city, over the country roads, and 
through the jungles to his home. It was well-nigh 
impossible for us to keep him in sight, although our 
coachman kneeled down in the front of his carriage 
and applied the whip to his already excited and 
running horses. Such a chase ! Two or three times 
the peer was quite out of sight, and we feared lest 
we should not be able to find his home. Presently, 
however, we saw him standing, impatiently waiting 
for us to come in sight, then off again. 

At last, in a most out-of-the-way place, such as 
one might seek for concealment, in the center of a 
jungle, surrounded by scraggy trees, we found him. 
He had alighted, and waited to assist me from the 
carriage. A great stone wall, so lofty that no mor- 
tal could scale it, surrounded his home. Opening 
through this wall there was only one gate, an im- 
mense, heavy, double-doored gate, which, however. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 155 

was always kept securely padlocked. In the lower 
part of one of the two doors which constituted this 
gate a little traplike gate opened, through which 
we crawled, after which this also was padlocked 
behind us. 

Within the inclosure are three very fine Arabian 
horses ; one of them black, a perfect match to the 
midnight steed which bore the peer so swiftly from 
our hospital, and two iron grays. There are also a 
goat, a tiny musk deer, several caged birds, and a 
parrot. At the further end of the inclosure is a 
deep veranda, covered with matting and very much 
littered. This veranda admits us to the one tiny 
room which constitutes the peer's home and that of 
his two wives and his one daughter. 

Before entering the peer gives me a seat on the 
veranda, sits down beside me on the floor in native 
style, and describes the condition of his daughter. 
She is in a perilous condition of health. Eats noth- 
ing, absolutely nothing, and frequently vomits large 
quantities of fresh blood ; he does not know how she 
lives at all. But he feels sure that my English medi- 
cine will be the means of restoring her health, in 
which case he will worship me. Her mother, who 
was the peer's first wife, died several years ago. 
This daughter is his only child and his sole earthly 
solace. She is the idol of his heart; he could not 
live without her. All this he tells me in the most 
impressive manner, and begs me to spare no pains, 
no trouble, no expense, but by all means to do some- 
thing for the restoration of his daughter's health. 



156 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

He is poor, so lie says, a beggar upon the earth. 
The fine Arabian horses were given to him as a 
token of love by his followers. The costly gems and 
exquisite ornaments which adorn the person of his 
beloved daughter were all gifts from Mohammedan 
worshipers. He has no money ; he lives upon the 
charity of his people ; they send him food and pro- 
vide for each and all of his needs as they occur. 
Ask for it? No, never ! He is a beggar in fact, but 
not by practice. He would starve rather than ask 
alms ; it is not necessary for him to ask ; his follow- 
ers count it their chief joy and privilege to present 
him with all material good. All this, by way of 
explanation, comes from the peer's own lips. 

My interpreter then explains that the peer is a 
great prophet, and preaches his Mohammedan re- 
ligion in the streets and everywhere wherever he 
can get an audience, and that many people have 
been converted from the Hindu religion to the Mo- 
hammedan through his instrumentality. On this 
account the Hindus hate him and seek his life, and 
have offered a great reward to anyone who will slay 
him ; but the Mohammedans worship him and the 
English government protects his person. 

The peer also explains to me that his daughter, 
though sixteen or seventeen years of age, is still 
unmarried. Not because there is no one willing to 
marry her; on the contrary, any wealthy, high-caste 
native Mohammedan man in India would count him- 
self highly honored if permitted to marry the peer's 
daughter. This is a very exceptional case ; no other 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 157 

like it in all India. The peer has no equal in India, 
and there is no man in all that country worthy to 
marry the peer's daughter. He has kept her un- 
married all these years, hoping that some great 
king or prince would come from a distance, asking 
for the hand of his daughter in marriage. No such 
one having arrived, she is still unmarried. *' Is he, 
the peer, then, disgraced?" I inquire. ''Ono! 
Nothing could disgrace the peer! " ''Is his daugh- 
ter, then, disgraced because she has passed the age 
of twelve and is still unmarried? " '' O no ! Noth- 
ing could disgrace her, because she is the peer's 
daughter ! " The gods could not curse her ; she 
is not a Hindu, to be cursed by their gods, but a 
Mohammedan ; and it is not her fault that she is 
still unmarried, nor her father's fault ; but only be- 
cause there is no man in all India worthy of such a 
bride. She is, therefore, allowed to wear her silken 
apparel, her gold and silver ornaments, with their 
costly settings, and her beautiful hair remains uncut, 
though she be unmarried and past the age of twelve. 



THE PEER'S DAUGHTER 

We are now ushered into the one little dark room 
which constitutes the home of these strange people, 
and the peer introduces his daughter. We find her 
reclining gracefully upon a low cot, covered with 
down quilts, soft silk spreads, and exquisite and 
costly Kashmeri shawls. She is attired in the most 
delicately tinted pure silk garments, and is literally 



158 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

covered with gold and silver ornaments studded 
with costly gems. A more exquisitely beautiful 
maiden never lived in any clime or delighted any 
home. Perfect in form — neither tall nor short, 
neither thin in flesh nor stout, but just round and 
sweet and lovely. Graceful in every motion, pre- 
possessing in appearance, and having in an un- 
usually large degree that strange, rare, native dig- 
nity peculiar to high-caste Indian women. At 
first she seems languid. Her great, soft brown 
eyes are cast down and her transparent eyelids 
droop, while her long curling lashes almost entirely 
conceal from view that subtle light which flashes 
and gleams in their dark liquid depths beneath 
her father's searching gaze ; for his eyes are like 
an eagle's in their keen, piercing stare. 

I take my patient's tiny hand, so soft and delicate 
and exquisite in its contour, and find the pulse reg- 
ular, strong, and perfectly normal in every way. 
The father looks away for a moment to speak to my 
interpreter. His daughter glances first at him and 
then darts at me a keen, intelligent, bright look, 
quite unlike the languid glance described above. 
With a few tender words the peer commends his 
daughter to my care and withdraws. As soon as 
he is quite away, and his daughter has heard the 
key turn in the padlock of the little gate, she imme- 
diately sits up and begins an animated conversation 
in the most intelligent, bright, and winning man- 
ner. No more is said about her illness. Of course 
I insist upon making a thorough examination, but 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 159 

find heart, lungs, and every organ of her body in a 
perfectly normal, sound condition. The thermom- 
eter marks no rise of temperature, and there is no 
sign of disease upon her. 

She puts innumerable questions ; is interested in 
everything I say ; wants to know all about the 
world outside, about America, about my home and 
friends there, and how we live, and what it is like to 
be free and to go and come at will, and innumerable 
things. Finally she begs me to take her home with 
me, begs me to take her to the hospital, begs me 
to take her anywhere. She wants to see the world 
and people and things. The monotony of her life 
is killing her. She is a prisoner. Her father loves 
her, is devoted to her, idolizes her, but keeps her in 
a living tomb. He will not relent ; he will not grant 
her any liberty ; he will not even allow her to peep 
over the high wall that surrounds her home. If 
she could only climb to the roof of her house, as 
poor, low-caste women are allowed to do, and have 
a look, be it ever so little, round about outside of 
her father's compound (lawn or yard), that would 
be something. Her father, however, is hard; he 
will not allow her the least little peep of the out- 
side world ; she never sees anybody nor anything ; 
never is allowed any privileges nor liberty of any 
kind. She is "dying" to get away from this 
wretched place. She speaks pretty broken English, 
and can read and write. Her mother was an edu- 
cated woman and taught her at home. Her grand- 
mother taught her mother in the beginning. How 



160 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

this small bit of education first crept into this native 
home is unknown, but certain it is that it has been 
appreciated, and has been extended from mother to 
daughter, so that this peer's daughter is able to read 
and has some idea of the outside world, although 
she has never seen it. Nor has she many books to 
read. Only occasionally some newspaper, or a scrap 
of some newspaper, comes within her grasp. She 
assures me that she has read just enough about the 
world to make her crazy to see it. How animated 
she seems! How brilliant! How her eyes flash 
and how the bright color deepens in her exquisitely 
rounded olive cheek as she speaks! A fair and 
lovely picture to behold, here in her dark, dingy 
prison-house. As she again and again begs me to 
take her away I feel obliged to suggest the diffi- 
culties, which she knows so well and feels so keenly. 
Then she falls back upon her low cot disappointed, 
sad, disconsolate. Presently, however, she springs 
up like some wild thing and begins to tell me in 
the most impressive manner how very ill she is ; 
how she has frequent attacks during w^hich she 
vomits clear blood ; that she cannot eat ; that she goes 
whole days and days and days without a morsel of 
food; that she has no appetite at all. For this 
cause I must take her to the hospital. The change 
of diet, the change of surroundings, the nursing, 
and all will serve to restore her health. I promise 
to use my best influence with the peer to induce 
him to send her to the hospital. This I do, but he 
refuses; will not entertain the proposition for a 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 16i 

moment. Again and again, during the weeks that 
follow, he comes on his black steed tearing over to 
the hospital, and takes me back at the same break- 
neck speed to visit his daughter, who has recently 
had another attack of this terrible hemorrhage from 
the stomach and has taken no food or nourishment 
of any kind for a period of several days — a week, 
perhaps. Finally, after many such trips, I succeed 
in persuading the pe^r to bring his daughter to the 
hospital. The time is appointed for the journey- 
midnight, on the darkest night in the month. 
First of all, of course, she is enveloped in her long 
white purdah garment, which extends from the 
crown of her head to the floor and trails about her 
feet. Then she is placed in a closed purdah carriage — 
a box arrangement, in which there is no window — 
and the one door through which she enters is tightly 
fastened. This box-shaped purdah carriage is then 
raised by means of two long poles and carried on 
the shoulders of four servant men. These men are 
all high-caste Mohammedans, and the peer himself 
walks along at the side of the carriage, keeping his 
hand upon the door. Thus, in the middle of the 
night, the peer's daughter is conveyed from her 
zenana home to our zenana hospital. In the hos- 
pital she makes rapid improvement, eats well, and 
vomits no blood ; is happy as a lark, the very light 
of the hospital and the delight of all its inmates ; a 
little wayward, however, regarding confinement. 
She begs the nurses to allow her to peep out the 
doors, walk on the veranda, and enjoy many other 



162 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

little privileges of freedom. They, fearing the 
peer, forbid all such innocent diversions. Then she 
becomes imperious, and asks them how they dare 
to refuse the peer's daughter ! How they dare to 
command her ! Nevertheless, she submits. 

Every time I visit my little patient in her ward 
she entreats me to take her home with me. She says 
she will cover herself completely from view with 
her purdah garment, and then ride in my carriage 
by my side from the hospital to my home. I dare 
not grant her petition. Finally, one of the Moham- 
medan nurses, who worships the peer, thinking I 
will surely yield and that I intend to take her over 
to my house, sends a message to the peer to this 
effect. The peer is furious, and, white with rage ; 
he tears over to the hospital, clinching the hilt of 
his sword. Thus he rushes up to the hospital and, 
meeting the matron at the veranda entrance, de- 
mands to know where his daughter may be found. 
She quietly assures him that his daughter is in her 
ward, and that he can see her in a moment if he will 
wait in the office. This unarms his rage in part, 
but not wholly. He will stand and wait until his 
daughter appear. When, however, he sees that 
she is really there and coming he relents and tells 
the matron, Mrs. Collins, and my native Christian 
interpreter, Pareni, who has come in, that he came 
with the full purpose of murdering them all, and 
declares that he intended to kill the doctor Sahib 
as well, in case he did not find his daughter at the 
hospital. Finding her there safe and well, and 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 163 

being assured that she shall not on any pretense be 
allowed to escape, he returns to his home satisfied. 
Some days later the peer expresses a desire to take 
his daughter home, believing her to be fully re- 
stored to health. I acquiesce in this latter opinion, 
and agree that she may leave the hospital in the 
course of a day or two. The news of this conver- 
sation soon reaches my little patient, and that 
evening she has a violent fit of vomiting and a 
terrible hemorrhage. Of course the matron sends 
for me instantly. When I arrive I find my little 
patient lying quietly in her bed apparently ex- 
hausted, but not more pallid than usual. I take 
her pulse and find it perfectly normal. The ward 
floor near the bed of the peer's daughter is badly 
stained with blood (?), the nurse having allowed 
the stains to remain until I should see it. I request 
them to leave it until the following morning, when 
I shall be able to examine it by daylight. In the 
morning I discover that the vomited matter is not 
blood, although I cannot tell what it is — something 
which has the color of blood, and which appears 
like it in every way, except that it does not coagu- 
late. I intimate to the nurse in attendance my 
suspicions, and order her to give my patient a bath 
without giving her any intimation of her purpose, 
and to make a thorough search for any red powder 
or liquid which may be concealed about her person. 
Soon after this the nurse who has charge of the 
peer's daughter comes to my home to report. Her 
patient made all sorts of excuses in order to avoid 



164 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

the bath, and made many other excuses to gain 
time in order, as it proved, to get rid of something 
about her person. In spite of all, however, the 
nurse discovers a tiny bag fastened about her pa- 
tient's waist underneath her clothing which contains 
a red powder, and being hard pressed, the peer's 
daughter confesses this red powder to be the sub- 
stance which she swallowed in order to make it 
seem that she had vomited blood. Of course she 
confides this to the nurse in great confidence, ex- 
acting a promise of secrecy. She further explains 
that her women servants bring her the powder 
whenever she wants it, and that they also give her 
food in her father's absence, thus enabling her to 
fast in his presence. 

Prior to this discovery the peer had been notified 
of his daughter's illness, and he therefore decided 
to allow her to remain in the hospital until such 
time as she might be again fully restored. 

Many such stratagems as these are resorted to by 
the peer's daughter in order to obtain a greater de- 
gree of freedom, diversion, or change. 

After many words, much entreaty, argument, ad- 
vice, and every means that could be resorted to, the 
peer is finally persuaded to bring his daughter to 
my home to pay me a brief visit. Of course this 
must be done after nightfall, on a dark night, and 
in the same closed purdah carriage which conveyed 
her from her zenana home to our zenana hospital. I 
sit up until a late hour in order to receive my little 
guest. It proves to be a very great treat to her. 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 165 

She is delighted with everything she sees in my 
home. Of course all my male servants have been 
previously sent away from the premises, and there 
is no man about the place except my husband, who 
is cloistered in a room apart, and who receives the 
peer himself and entertains him during the visit. 
At a late hour the peer enters the room where we 
sit and announces that he is ready to return to his 
home and that his daughter must prepare to go. 
Almost instantly my little patient takes a severe 
pain, and invites her father to withdraw in order 
that she may make known to her physician the char- 
acter of her sufferings. As soon as the peer has left 
the room his daughter arises, shrugs her shoulders, 
smiles significantly, and continues her visit. Still 
later in the evening she entreats me to keep her ; 
to make some excuse to her father so that he will 
allow her to remain with me. O, if she could only 
live here always ! Such is her cry. 

Poor child! Just a healthy, strong, vigorous 
maiden, full of life, and health, and vigor, and 
energy, and interest, to whom all things in life seem 
beautiful, enticing, fascinating; and such a one 
condemned to lifelong solitude and seclusion ! 

After her return to her little dark zenana home our 
patient has frequent attacks of vomiting and hemor- 
rhage like those above described, and on each occa- 
sion I am summoned to her side in great haste by 
her father. 

The peer often visits us in our home ; professes 
to be very fond of Mr. Hopkins and deeply grateful 



166 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

to me for what I have done for his daughter. Some- 
times he spends several hours at our home. On 
such occasions, when his hour for prayer arrives (the 
Mohammedans worship seven times a day), he goes 
to the front of the house, spreads his garment upon 
the ground, stands upon it, and goes through all the 
ceremonies of Mohammedan worship. He usually 
spends one hour at his prayers. This over, he goes 
back into the house and engages in conversation 
again with anyone of us who happens to be at 
leisure. He usually brings some gift for me, from 
himself or from his daughter. Thus, at one time, 
he brought me the beautiful little musk deer, which 
was his family pet. At another time he brought me 
two lovely ringdoves. 

When we were about to return to America the fact 
somehow came to the knowledge of the peer's 
daughter and she sent me an urgent request to visit 
her once more before leaving India. I can never 
forget that last visit. How sad she was at the 
thought of never seeing me again ! She presented 
to me many little tokens of love. Among them 
were two dolls, representing a wealthy high-caste 
Mohammedan lady and gentleman of Hyderabad, 
which she had made expressly for me, with her own 
deft fingers; also a bag, studded with tiny round 
mirrors and embroidered in silk floss of many colors. 

The peer's daughter is, in two notable particu- 
lars, a very great exception to the ordinary high- 
caste zenana woman of India. First, having passed 
the age of twelve years unmarried, she is, neverthe- 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 167 

less not considered to be disgraced herself nor a dis- 
grace to her family and caste, and, secondly, she 
has been taught to read and is able to do some sorts 
of needlework with her own hands, and is allowed 
to divert herself in this manner. 

Strange as it may seem, the peer's daughter has 
a lover, and one, too, whom her father does not 
approve. 

A short time before my first visit it happened that 
a young native prince from some distant city came 
to see the peer in regard to some matter pertaining 
to their Mohammedan religion or worship. While 
he, the young prince, was being entertained by the 
peer outside of the high wall which serves to keep 
his wives and daughter in seclusion, one of the 
servant women returning from Hyderabad city, 
where she had been sent on an errand by one of the 
peer's wives, saw this young prince and was much 
impressed by his handsome face, courteous manner, 
and grace and dignity of bearing. When she was 
again admitted through the small gate into the 
presence of her mistress she was, as usual, interro- 
gated by the peer's daughter as to all she had seen 
and heard during her absence. Of course she men- 
tioned the fact of having seen this wonderful young 
prince who was visiting the peer, and enlarged upon 
his many charms, the fascination of his brilliant 
eyes, the beauty of his raven locks, and the dignity 
of his manly bearing. 

The peer's daughter had never looked upon the 

face of any man save that of her father only, as she 
10 



168 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

has no brothers and no near kinsmen. Upon hear- 
ing this description from the lips of her servant 
woman she became frantic to meet this handsome 
young prince, and began at once to devise means 
whereby she might achieve this end. At length it 
was arranged that there should be another errand 
which would make it necessary for one of the serv- 
ant women to go again to the city ; and that, as the 
peer unlocked the little gate to allow her to pass 
out, one of his wives should call him urgently — the 
daughter feigning sudden illness ; meanwhile the 
servant woman, rushing through the little gate, 
should speak to the young prince, and give him a 
hint of the true situation, asking him to return the 
following day at a certain hour when it was known 
the peer would be away from home attending to his 
religious duties. 

This arrangement was successfully carried out, and 
at the appointed hour the young prince appeared 
again on the spot and waited and watched for fur- 
ther developments. By some device of these fair 
plotters, for the peer's wives and servant women 
were in league with his daughter, a sort of ladder 
was improvised, by means of which she, the peer's 
daughter, climbed to the roof of her father's house 
and from there looked over the wall which sur- 
rounded her father's premises, down upon the young 
prince who waited to see her face. They were not 
near enough to hold any conversation, but it seems 
it was a case of " love at first sight," and mutual. 
The young prince was completely charmed and cap- 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 169 

tivated by the bewildering beauty of the peer's 
daughter, and the peer's daughter, on her part, fell 
madly in love with the prince. 

Of course the peer must never know that his 
daughter's face had been seen by a man, and with- 
out divulging this fact the prince applied for the 
hand of the peer's daughter in marriage, but with- 
out success. The peer did not consider that this 
young man was of sufficiently high caste, sufficiently 
wealthy, or that he held a sufficiently exalted posi- 
tion in the world to be worthy of his daughter ; and 
his decision was of course final. The young couple, 
however, continue to send messages, through the 
servants, each to the other, always hoping for a time 
to come when, somehow, all barriers to their union 
may be dissolved. 

The little gate is never allowed to remain un- 
locked, not even for the space of a single moment, 
and no servant woman can leave the premises except 
she be passed out by the hand of the peer himself. 
This she may do occasionally, when there is some 
errand which can only be done by a servant woman 
or which is beneath the dignity of the peer. If she 
return during the peer's absence from home, she can- 
not be admitted until his return ; she must wait with- 
out until the peer come and bring the only key 
which will unfasten the padlock of that little gate. 

The young prince lingers about the place and 
watches, from some distant hiding place, for the 
peer to leave home, then draws nearer, hoping 
that some means maybe arranged whereby he shall 



170 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

have the opportunity of gazing once more upon the 
face of the fair young maiden who has won his 
heart. She, on her part, watches and waits for his 
approach, longs for her father's disappearance, and 
seizes every possible opportunity to behold the hand- 
some face of her lover. 

Should there ever be a sequel to this strange ro- 
mance, which is not a fiction, but a fact, I may, per- 
haps, on some future day be able to "continue" 
this story to its happy (?) termination. 

Is there no release? Is there no release? O 
God, is there no release? When shall these prison 
walls be broken down? When shall these innocent 
captives be set at liberty? When shall these chains 
of adamant be severed ! When shall these fair 
limbs be unbound? When shall these beautiful 
and innocent slaves be emancipated? When shall 
these sepulchers be unlocked and broken through? 
When shall these living wives and daughters be 
released from these tombs of living women ? Who 
will answer? 

''The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; be- 
cause the Lord hath anointed me to preach good 
tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me to bind up 
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the cap- 
tives, and the opening of the prison to them that 
are bound ; 

''To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, 
and the day of vengeance of our God ; to comfort 
all that mourn ; 

"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to 



IN THE ZENANA HOMES OF INDIAN PRINCES 171 

give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of 
heaviness; that they might be called Trees of 
righteousness. The planting of the Lord, that he 
might be glorified " (Isa. 6i. 1-3). 



A PROPHECY AND A PRAYER 

The rich the pt>orest are, I ween, 

And most to be deplored 
Their hapless lot, behind the screen 

Where naught may joy afford. 

The chains that bind are adamant ; 

The walls are great and high ; 
The purdah veil remains unrent — 

Fair captives weep and sigh. 

Our God shall break the captive's chain 

And set the prisoner free ; 
He'll rend the purdah veil in twain, 

That blinded eyes may see. 

Amen ! So let it be ! 



BOOK III 

HEROES AND HEROINES OF 

ZION 



" Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost : 

" Teaching- them to observe all things whatsoever 
I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you 
aiway, even unto the end of the world." — Matthew 
xxviii, 19, 20. 



TO THE PEERLESS TRIO 
MISSES HEWLETT, BARTLETT, AND GROSS 

OF 

THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

OF 

UMRITSAR, PUNJAB, INDIA 

WHO EXTENDED MANY KINDLY, HOSPITABLE 

AND GRACIOUS COURTESIES UNTO 

"ONE OF THE LEAST" OF HIS 

EVEN AS UNTO HIM 

THIS LITTLE WORK 

" HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION " 

IS 

VERY GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 

BY 

THE AUTHOR 




(D 
O 

O 



T3 



:3 
o 
07 



BOOK III 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 



-WHO ARE THEY? 

Heroes they who, self forgetting. 

Gladly yield their lives to God ; 
Seeking not for vain preferment. 

Meekly bowing 'neath the rod. 
Heroes they, and heroes worthy, 

Who, neglectful of earth's gain. 
Carry to the heathen nations 

Tidings of the Lamb once slain: 
Slain for all mankind in common, 

Slain the nations to reclaim 
From the dire results of sinning ; 

Giving glory to his name ; 
Heroines and heroes noble ; 

Worthy of our love sincere, 
For unto the heart of Jesus 

They are cherished friends most dear. 



THE METHODIST MISSIONARY OF THE 
PARENT BOARD 

There are many phases of missionary work in 
India. Seventy-three distinct Christian denomina- 
tions and societies are represented, and each one 
has many different branches and departments of 
missionary effort. In our own Methodist Episcopal 

179 



180 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

Churcli we have first of all the regular male mis- 
sionary, sent out by the parent board and sup- 
ported by our Missionary Society. Upon his arrival 
in India the first necessity which arises is that of 
mastering some one of the many languages spoken 
by the people of Hindustan. It will require one 
year at least for him to become sufficiently ad- 
vanced in this study to be able to take charge of a 
native church. Usually, therefore, he is first ap- 
pointed pastor of some English-speaking church. 
He may remain in this church for one, two, three, 
or more years ; but whether it be a long or a short 
term of service, he is supposed to put in every spare 
moment in the study of the particular language 
which he has selected, and when he becomes suffi- 
ciently proficient to be able to hold conversation 
and to preach fairly well in the vernacular he is 
appointed pastor of some native church. Now his 
labors begin in earnest. Not only must he perform 
all the regular pastoral duties which devolve upon 
every pastor in the Methodist Church at home, such 
as regular Sabbath services, pastoral visitations, 
marriages, baptisms, funerals, etc., etc., but he 
must do much more than this. He preaches two 
or three times every Sunday, and usually once or 
twice every day in the week. At four, five, or six 
o'clock in the morning the butler {hamal) raps at 
the door of the missionary's bed chamber and cries 
out, '^ Chota haziri, Sahib f (Little breakfast, sir!) 
At this summons the missionary goes to the door 
and receives a little tray containing two cups of tea 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION i8l 

or coffee, one for himself and one for his wife, and 
two or three thin vslices of toasted bread already 
spread with buffalo butter — white as lard. There 
may also be two small bananas or two eggs, but 
these do not usually form a part of the little break- 
fast. Immediately after this " frugal meal," early, 
early in the morning, before the heat becomes too 
great for him to be out of doors with impunity, he 
is found on some public corner or square in the na- 
tive bazar preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
This he may do even before he has become fluent 
in the use of the native tongue, through an inter- 
preter. He takes with him one of his native local 
preachers or exhorters and they walk to the bazar 
together. As they approach the market place, or 
immediately after they arrive and have taken their 
stand, they begin singing some Christian hymn in 
the native tongue, and perhaps playing an accompa- 
niment with cymbals, tambourine, or some other 
musical instrument of native device. This attracts 
attention and soon avails to draw a crowd. When 
a sufficient number have gathered the singing and 
playing ceases and our missionary begins his ser- 
mon. It is not a short discourse of twenty, thirty, 
or forty minutes' duration, but may last for several 
hours. The congregation is constantly changing; 
a few going away and others coming almost con- 
tinually, so that at the close of the discourse, two 
or three hours after its commencement, the preacher 
will have an entirely different audience from the 
one with which he began. The service may be 



182 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

varied from time to time, at the discretion of the 
missionary, with song, prayer, scripture reading, 
short addresses, or testimonies by native assistants. 
Sometimes, especially in large cities, two or three 
missionaries may go together to the morning street 
preaching, taking with them several native helpers, 
and in this case there will be several discourses, inter- 
spersed with prayer and singing. When the sun's 
rays become intolerably hot the service is closed and 
all return home, where they arrive usually at nine or 
ten o'clock. Bar a Jia^^iri kJiana (big breakfast) is now 
in waiting — oatmeal, curry and rice, poached eggs 
on toast, potato chips, bananas, and possibly beef- 
steak. Breakfast over, the missionary conducts 
family prayers. This he does sometimes in the 
native language only, at other times using both the 
English and native tongues, reading a part of the 
Scripture lesson in our own language and a part in 
the vernacular, or reading the same lesson in both 
languages ; praying first in one language and then 
in another, or praying in the English tongue and 
having his prayer interpreted sentence by sentence 
into the native language. This is done for the 
sake of the native servants, who have gathered 
in the large dining room and sit around on the 
floor with their legs crossed and their heads bowed 
in the most respectful manner. During prayer 
they will all lean over until their foreheads touch 
the floor and remain in this bowed position until 
the end of the Lord's Prayer, which all Christians 
in the room repeat in concert. After family wor- 




Dena's Wife, the Ayah Dena, the Butler 

Miss Robinson Miss W. L. Armstrong Miss Levermore 

Three Zenana Missionaries with Servants and Two of Miss Levermore's 
Little Adopted Native Children, and Chung, Dena's Son 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 185 

ship the missionary retires to his study, not for rest, 
but for letter or report writing, private devotions, 
or study. At one o'clock the butler rings the bell, 
announcing that tiffiri (luncheon) is ready. This is 
a light meal, often cold — some cold sliced meat, a 
cup of hot tea, stale bread with buffalo butter, ba- 
nanas, oranges, custard, apples, guavas, mangoes, 
or whatever fruit may be in season. He may also 
have hot curry and rice, but this is not customary. 
After luncheon the missionary must see his local 
preachers, exhorters, and other native assistants, 
and instruct them as to the best methods of teach- 
ing the Scripture lesson, etc., etc. At four or 
half-past four, the native assistants depart, leav- 
ing our missionary alone in his study. Pres- 
ently the butler, with bare feet, pure white turban 
of immense size, spotless kurta and paejaina, and 
scarlet sash, comes to the missionary's study bear- 
ing a small tray with a cup of India tea and a few 
English biscuits. The missionary partakes of these 
refreshments with relish. At this hour of the day, 
when the oppressive heat has served to enervate 
and depress the weary missionary, his afternoon 
tea seems a necessity. In some missionary homes, 
however, the afternoon tea is dispensed with and 
dinner is served at that hour, in which case tea 
and biscuits are usually served late in the evening. 
At half -past four or five o'clock in the afternoon, as 
the heat begins to abate, the missionary leaves his 
home again. This time he goes to the native city 
to visit his boys' schools. Of these he may have a 



186 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

large number under his own care. A small upper 
room in the native city serves as a schoolroom, 
and a native Christian man, who has been educated 
in one of our missionary boys' boarding schools, is 
engaged as teacher. Native boys whose parents 
are heathen are gathered from all parts of the city 
to these day schools. Here the rudiments of an 
education are acquired and the pupils are prepared 
to enter English government schools of higher 
grade, but the Bible is the chief text-book and is 
taught regularly and carefully every day. There 
may be only one, but if there be ten, fifteen, or 
more such schools as this in the native city where 
our missionary is pastor of the native church, he must 
superintend them all. He visits each of them fre- 
quently, conducts all the examinations, directs and 
examines the native teachers, and has oversight 
and management of the whole. So that our mis- 
sionary to India must be not only an able preacher 
of the Gospel and a consecrated Christian man, but 
he must also be strong and vigorous in body in 
order to endure the enervating effects of that most 
trying tropical climate and the strain of his inces- 
sant and arduous toil. He must also be a scholar, 
able to teach and to superintend many schools — to 
manage men, to marshal his converts; a very 
general. 

Nor are these all the labors that devolve upon 
our missionary in India. He may have, in addition 
to the native day schools in the native city, one or 
more boys' boarding schools which he must super- 




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HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 189 

intend. If his church be strong spiritually, finan- 
cially, numerically, and in every respect, he will 
have efficient helpers — class leaders, Sabbath school 
superintendent, Epworth League president, stew- 
ards, trustees, Ladies' Aid, and all the auxiliary 
helpers which a pastor in a Christian land is sup- 
posed to have. This, however, is exceptional. As 
a rule our missionary who holds the position of 
pastor of a native church in India has little, if any, 
efficient help in his church. He or his wife must 
superintend the Sabbath school, act as president of 
the Epworth League, lead the classes, and fill every 
position of responsibility in the church. 

After our missionary returns from the native city, 
where he has been to inspect or examine his boys* 
day schools, he is usually ready for his khana (din- 
ner), which is served at six, seven, or eight o'clock 
in the evening, according to the prevailing custom 
of the English people of the community in which he 
lives. 

No food is found upon the dining table when the 
missionary and his family first take their accus- 
tomed places, except, perhaps, the soup, which 
forms the inevitable first course. After this, fol- 
lowing in due course, come the fish, the roast and 
vegetables, the curry and rice, and, finally, the pud- 
ding or the fruit. 

Immediately after dinner the missionary conducts 

family worship, the servants attending as in the 

morning. 

During the evening our missionary may have a 
11 



190 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

sermon to preacli, an Epworth League service to 
conduct, a prayer or class meeting to lead, a Bible 
reading to give, a Missionary Conference to attend, 
some ill people to visit, or a report to write. In 
any case liis time is sure to be fully occupied. And 
thus his busy days go by. 

Besides the regular pastorates of the English- 
speaking and native churches there are other posi- 
tions of trust and responsibility which must be filled 
by the regular male missionary of the parent board 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There must be 
presiding elders for the various districts, our Church 
papers must have editors and agents, our Christian 
schools and colleges must have presidents and 
teachers, our various printing and publishing agen- 
cies must be superintended by competent men, and 
at any Annual Conference session the regular pastor 
may be removed from his pastorate to fill any of the 
above posts left vacant by death or removal. Lat- 
terly, however, some of these important places, such 
as presiding elderships and professorships in our 
Christian schools and colleges, have been and are 
being ably and efficiently filled by native men. In- 
deed, some of our best Christian schools in India 
have but one or two American missionaries in their 
whole staff of teachers, and there are now many 
presiding elders in our native Christian Church who 
have proven themselves able, efficient, and satis- 
factory in every respect. 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 191 

THE SERVANT QUESTION 

Since my return to America strange reports have 
come to my hearing. A Methodist missionary is 
supposed by many to be a man of leisure who goes 
to India on a fat salary and lives at his ease, sur- 
rounded by servants to wait upon him. No greater 
mistake than this could be made. The Methodist 
missionary in India is an overwrought, overbur- 
dened, careworn man. That he bears his burdens 
and responsibilities gladly and cheerfully, as unto 
the Lord, does not alter the fact nor relieve the 
pressure which is surely telling upon the constitu- 
tion and shortening the life. That he has servants 
to wait upon him is true. May I digress a moment 
while I explain this servant question? 

Servants in India are a necessity. Not because 
the missionary is unwilling to work, not on account 
of laziness or idleness on the part of the mission- 
ary or his wife, but for reasons which grow out of 
and are dependent upon the caste system of India 
and other conditions which are peculiar to that 
country. To illustrate : You must have water to 
drink and for cooking purposes. Your cook will 
not bring it — he will not leave his kitchen for any 
purpose ; the butler will not bring it — that is not 
his work ; not one of the house servants will do it — 
they each have their own peculiar labor and will do 
but one thing; it is their occupation, their religion, 
their social standing among the people of their 
country, and — well — it is their caste ! The biJiishti 



192 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

(water carrier) will bring water in a dressed goat- 
skin on his back from some distant well, filling all 
the water chatties in your house once, twice, or 
three times per day, as maybe needful. But suppose 
you refuse to be thus served. You declare that you 
cannot submit to having so many servants about 
you, and you undertake to bring your own water. 
Take a bucket, in the early morning, and start for 
a distant well. You must start early, as in this 
climate you cannot be out during the middle of the 
day with impunity. When you arrive at the well (an 
old-fashioned dug well, with a broad brick wall all 
around which stands up four feet above the surface 
of the ground), before you have time to climb to 
the top of the brick wall, upon which you must 
stand in order to drop your bucket down into the 
well, several native bihishtis intervene and, with 
low salaams and respectful entreaty, beg you to 
desist. In spite of this you clamber to the top of 
the brick wall and lower your bucket into the well. 
The natives look upon all white-faced Sahibs (gen- 
tlemen) as their superiors, if not their lords, and for 
this reason they do not resist you further, but stand 
back in dismay while you pollute their well. After 
your departure, however, these same bihishtis 
gather about and fill up the well with soil and 
stones. This is done lest by any accident some 
high-caste native, not knowing that the well has 
been polluted by the hand of a Christian, should 
drink water from this same well and thus break his 
caste. It may be that there is no other well for 




Domingo, the Cook, in the Kitchen of an American Missionary 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 195 

some miles around, and this may create quite a panic 
for water, nevertheless the thing must be done — the 
well is ruined for native use, and forever. The 
next day you try again, and, finding this well filled 
up, you go to another. The same result will follow, 
until you are compelled to engage a bihishti to bring 
your water for you, which you can do for the nom- 
inal sum of from two to four rupees (sixty cents to one 
dollar and thirty cents) a month, and without board. 
Do you suggest that the missionary's wife herself 
prepare the family meals, and thus save the expense 
of hiring a cook ? There is no kitchen in the mission- 
ary home, no cook stove, and perhaps not even a 
fireplace, chimney, or stovepipe hole. The kitchen 
is some distance from the house, in the back yard. 
It is a small, dark room, with one door and one small 
square hole, with wooden bars crossing it, which 
serves as a window. The cooking is done on sev- 
eral little handmade mud stoves. These are made 
in the shape of a horseshoe, one foot or less across 
the top and six inches in depth. In the middle of 
the horseshoe the wood or charcoal fire is made, 
and on its rim, above the fire, is placed the degcha 
(a copper cooking utensil about the shape of an or- 
dinary tin basin, only deeper, and of graduated 
sizes), which contains whatever food is to be cooked. 
Of course there is no pipe to this stove, and the 
smoke goes in the face of the cook and fills the 
room. During the hot season no English or Amer- 
ican woman could cook in such a place as this with- 
out imperiling her life. 



196 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

In some parts of India the above-described hand- 
made cook stove has been supplanted by an elevated 
fireplace or grate, built up with mortar and brick to 
about the height of an American cook stove and 
having several round openings in the upper surface 
which reach down to the open fireplace beneath. 
These are a decided improvement on the first- 
described stove, but having no chimney, stovepipe, 
or other means of escape for the smoke, they are 
still very unsatisfactory. 

Thus it is with every department of domestic 
work. There are no modern improvements, no 
machinery, no conveniences of any sort. All do- 
mestic labor is performed in the same crude and 
laborious manner which prevailed in Bible times. 
For our missionary's wife to undertake to do her 
own housework in India would not only shorten her 
days, but would consume every moment of her 
time, every particle of her strength, and would 
thus render her incapable of assisting her husband 
in his missionary labors or of carrying on an inde- 
pendent mission work of her own, while for the 
nominal sum which one would pay an ordinary 
hired girl in America (say $2.50, $3, or $4 per week) 
one may support six, eight, or ten domestic servants 
in India and board none of them. 

Besides this, for you to do your own work in that 
country offends the natives. They regard you as a 
low-caste, mean individual, who has come to their 
country to rob them of their rightful occupation 
and means of support. Moreover, having the serv- 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 197 

ants in your own home affords another opportunity 
of usefulness — you are enabled to show, to at least 
your own servants, what a Christian home is like, 
and to live before them a Christian life. They 
gather at your family altar every day, hear the 
Bible read and explained, and listen to the prayer 
for them as well as for others. This is the most 
powerful of all preaching, and it is a common thing 
to see servants of the missionaries converted to God 
and living upright Christian lives through the influ- 
ence of their missionary master and mistress. Much 
more could be said in regard to this servant ques- 
tion ; indeed, a volume could be written in justifica- 
tion of the practice of employing servants in India, 
but more is unnecessary, except perhaps to intimate 
the fact that the servants are paid from the private 
salary of the missionary, and this expense therefore 
brings no additional outlay to the Missionary Society 
in the home land. The salary of a Methodist mis- 
sionary in India is about equivalent to the average 
salary of a Methodist pastor in America. 

Many of our English-speaking churches in India 
are entirely self-supporting, paying the entire mis- 
sionary salary, all the incidental expenses of their 
church, giving to the missionary cause, and in many 
cases supporting native preachers and other workers 
in addition; other English-speaking churches are 
able to meet only a part of their own pastor's salary, 
the remainder being paid by our Missionary Society. 
Many of our native Christian churches, also, are 
self-supporting, while others are so in part. 



198 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

THE ASSISTANT MISSIONARY 

In America there are certain duties which de- 
volve upon the wife of a Methodist pastor. She is 
supposed to fill a place in the church and commu- 
nity which is peculiarly her own, and in some cases, 
especially where she has a family of small children, 
and ill health, she finds the requirements by no 
means light, and at times the people of her hus- 
band's church seem to be somewhat exacting. In 
India, however, the wife of the Methodist mission- 
ary is herself also a missionary and has her own 
peculiar missionary labors to perform, although for 
these services she receives no separate, independent 
salary from any source. True, a married mission- 
ary receives a somewhat larger salary than the single 
missionary, and at the birth of each child the salary 
is again increased some fifteen or twenty rupees, and 
this sum may be supposed to meet all the actual re- 
quirements of his living expenses. It may be that the 
missionary's wife was formerly a regular missionary, 
sent out by the Woman's Foreign Missionary So- 
ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church and sup- 
ported by them. Her salary was then equal to the 
salary of any unmarried male missionary supported 
by the parent board. On her wedding day, how- 
ever, she ceases to receive her regular salary from 
the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, and on 
that day she becomes an " assistant missionary" of 
the parent board. Her duties are designated by the 
Conference, and she is expected to report her work 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 199 

in the regular manner. Her missionary labors re- 
quire all her strength and all her time, so that, as 
the little children come to her home, she is obliged 
to hire an ayah (native nurse) to care for them. 
Nevertheless, she receives no compensation for her 
missionary labor except in the consciousness of help- 
ing on the great cause which she has learned to love 
so dearly. 

Is her husband's salary sufficient to meet all the 
family needs ? Yes; under ordinary circumstances 
it is. While both parties keep well and strong, and 
there are no children to be educated, the mission- 
ary's salary is sufficient. If the health of husband 
or wife become seriously impaired, the parent board 
will pay their passage home to America, and possi- 
bly, in the former case, the husband may receive 
half his regular salary during his leave of absence. 
If, however, there are children to be educated, there 
are no means sufficient to meet this emergency. 
There comes a time when both missionary and mis- 
sionary assistant break down in health and must re- 
turn to their native land. In this case he must of 
necessity take one of the small appointments in his 
home Conference. He has been long away from 
home, and there is now no place for him in his own 
Conference. Younger men, who have been in the 
Conference during all the years of his absence, have 
crowded him out. He is now broken in health. 
During his absence he has not been cultivating his 
oratorical powers, but rather striving to simplify the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ in such a manner as that the 



200 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

ienorant natives could understand the messa^^e. 
He is not a " star preacher; " and the probabilities 
are that before he has been long in his native land 
he will be ranked among the superannuated of his 
Conference. In this case he has nothing laid up, 
and no income sufficient to support himself and fam- 
ily. Had his wife also received a salary for the work 
which she actually did for the parent board, as an 
assistant missionary in India, all this would prob- 
ably be different. The injustice of such an arrange- 
ment must be apparent to all. And yet I never 
heard that any missionary's wife ever intimated a 
desire to receive compensation for her misvsionary 
toil, or dreamed that there could be any injustice in 
her being expected to give her strength, time, and 
labor to help on the great cause to which she and 
her husband have both consecrated their lives. On 
the contrary, she feels it to be a great privilege and 
joy to be permitted to thus spend and be spent for the 
blessed Master. Indeed, I very much doubt whether 
these noble, consecrated, self-sacrificing women 
would, at first, and readily, accept a salary from the 
parent board, even if it were offered. And yet is 
it not the least that we at home can do, to recog- 
nize the injustice, the self-sacrifice, and the heroism 
involved ? Instead of circulating, or helping to cir- 
culate, a damaging report to the effect that mission- 
aries go out to India on a fat salary, to live at their 
ease and to be waited upon by servants, should we 
not appreciate the fact that, while our Missionary 
Society pays a moderate, reasonable, sufficient 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 201 

salary for the service of one missionary, that Society 
actually receives in return for this one salary the 
consecrated, earnest, devoted service of two effi- 
cient missionaries instead of one. In the secular 
world no such thing would be expected or endured. 
If the husband is employed by any firm in this or 
any other country, he is paid for his labor, of course, 
and is paid a sufficient sum to enable him to support 
his family, but nothing is expected of his wife. If 
he fill a chair in any college or university, he only 
is expected to teach. If his wife take a class, or 
classes, she is paid for the labor which she actually 
performs. Why should not the missionary's wife 
be treated with equal courtesy and consideration, 
not to say justice? Perhaps you'll affirm, in reply, 
that the wives of missionaries are not all efficient 
workers; that many of them are not even thor- 
oughly consecrated, earnest Christian women ; that 
their work is by no means universally satisfactory 
either in quality or quantity ; and that even the most 
efficient are liable to be disqualified for service by 
impaired health, household cares, and other domestic 
causes. All this we readily concede ; but is it not 
equally true that when a young man presents him- 
self to the Missionary Society of our Church as a 
candidate for the foreign field his wife's character 
and qualifications are taken into consideration al- 
most as much as his own? And at each Annual 
Conference, when the appointments are to be made, 
is it not a fact that the qualifications and efficiency of 
the missionary's wife have much to do with the final 



202 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

decision ? Certainly no reasonable person could re- 
quire that a salary be paid indiscriminately to the 
wife of every missionary who is employed by the 
parent board of our Church. It is only where ac- 
tual service is rendered, and service which is ac- 
ceptable and satisfactory to the board, that we feel 
compensation is due. Of course the Missionary So- 
ciety must always be free to employ whom they will, 
and to be judge of qualifications and of efficiency. 

The missionary's wife, or '' assistant missionary," 
as she is called by the parent board, has charge of 
all the Bible women in connection with her hus- 
band's church. They meet in her home several 
times a week, and receive instruction from her. 
This is practically a normal school on a small scale. 
She teaches these Bible readers how to do their work, 
how to read and expound the Scriptures to the na- 
tive women whom they visit in their zenana homes. 
Often she goes with them to these zenana homes, 
teaches for them, sings and prays with the native 
women, and has the whole under her immediate care 
and supervision. Besides this, she is also a zenana 
missionary, and personally visits a large number of 
zenana homes regularly, doing the same work that 
is done by the regular zenana missionary who is sup- 
ported by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, 
except that she does not have assistant zenana 
workers under her charge. In many cases she also 
has charge of native girls' schools, like the native 
boys' schools which her husband superintends ; and 
she engages native Christian women to teach, such 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF 2I0N 203 

as have been educated in girls' missionary board- 
ing schools. She may have from one to a dozen or 
more of these day schools in the native city, for the 
daughters of heathen parents. She conducts all the 
examinations, keeps in touch with the teachers, 
visits the schools often, and superintends the whole 
work. In addition to this she may have in her own 
home a girls' boarding school, where she acts as 
matron, chief teacher, superintendent, friend, 
mother, and guardian to all the inmates. It is not 
usual that the wives of missionaries do street preach- 
ing in the public bazar; but some of them do this 
also, and with great success. 



THE MISSIONARY EVANGELIST 

The work of the missionary evangelist, or pioneer 
missionary, in India is different from evangelistic 
work in America, although in some cases it may 
appear to be similar. The missionary evangelist, 
however, whose work we are about to describe, is 
not an assistant ; he does not go to churches which 
are already organized and in good working order 
to hold revival services, and thus render assistance 
to the regular pastor in charge. He is an inde- 
pendent missionary, and a pioneer. He may be a 
presiding elder or the regular pastor of some native 
church, devoting himself to this specific pioneer 
evangelistic work during certain seasons of the year 
only. 



204 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

In a canvas-covered cart or wagon, containing a 
supply of provisions for his own use, a small medi- 
cine chest, a few tools, a change of apparel, a sup- 
ply of tracts for distribution — translated into vari- 
ous Hindustani languages — his Bible and hymnal, 
and accompanied b}^ one or two missionary associates 
and perhaps several native Christian assistants, 
together with a servant or two, he travels from 
village to village, stopping at each place a few 
days or a week, as the work opens up before him or 
as each particular case may require, preaching the 
Gospel, distributing tracts, organizing churches and 
Sabbath schools, establishing missions, and healing 
the sick. There may or may not be a medical mis- 
sionary in the company ; in any case the missionary 
evangelist has sufficient knowledge of ordinary dis- 
eases and their remedies to be able to use to advan- 
tage a small supply of simple drugs, and the poor, 
suffering natives are glad enough to enjoy the 
benefits which they can derive from these medi- 
cines. There are no English physicians or sur- 
geons in any of these native villages, nor are there 
educated native doctors ; so that all the sick of the 
community are obliged to suffer on without relief 
until the disease spends itself and they recover, or 
until their sufferings are cut short by death. 

There is no farm life, no country life, in India 
which can be compared with or is in any respect 
similar to the farm and country life of America. 
The land is owned by a few wealthy natives. No 
poor workingman is able to own a foot of land in 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 205 

his own right. He rents his farm, which is meas- 
ured by feet or by rods and not by acres. He also 
rents a tiny room, ten by ten feet square, or twelve 
by twelve, in some village near by, where all the 
farmers or country folk like himself are crowded 
together as closely as they are found in the great 
cities. The farm which they have rented is not 
large enough to afford them room for a dwelling, 
and even if it were,^they dare not live upon it on 
account of the many venomous serpents which in- 
fest the jungles and the wild beasts which prowl 
about. Early in the morning these farmers, with 
their wives, sons, and daughters, all who are old 
enough to work, go to the little patch of ground 
which they have rented and there they labor during 
the whole day, tilling the soil or gathering the grain 
according to the season of the year. With the 
crudest kind of plow, merely two sticks fastened 
together, and with the help of two bullocks, the sod 
is broken up, and the wheat, rice, gram, or other 
seed is sown. Even if the season is favorable and 
the harvest abundant, the poor farmer realizes 
but a meager sum for his labor, as a large percent- 
age of his crop must go to his landlord to pay the 
yearly rental for his mud hut and small piece of 
ground. 

During the night the villagers for the most part 
sleep on the ground out of doors, in the roads, 
alleys, and lanes of their small country village as it 
is too hot in the tiny little room which constitutes 
their home, and which has no window or other 



206 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

means of ventilation except the one door, and in 
which the family cooking has been done during the 
evening. 

In some parts of India, in Bengal at least, it 
sometimes happens that while the villagers are 
sound asleep on the ground their babies, one, two, 
three, or more, are carried off by a pack of jackals, 
which have approached the village without arousing 
the sleepers and snatched away the wee infants be- 
fore their parents were aware of their presence. Of 
course the jackals are soon pursued, and in making 
their flight the infants are dropped, usually badly 
bitten, scratched, and torn. These infants, torn and 
bleeding from the teeth and claws of the jackals, are 
sometimes brought to the missionary evangelist, 
who tenderly dresses the wounds, inserting stitches 
where necessary, and bandaging the lacerated limbs 
as well as possible with the materials at hand. 

When in such a village as this the news is circu- 
lated that the white-faced missionaries are approach- 
ing, a few of its leading citizens will start out on 
foot to meet the distinguished guests, who are 
usually tendered a cordial welcome and treated 
with royal courtesy by these simple country folk. 
The sick people are brought to him for treatment, 
and while he ministers to their needs and a few 
suffering ones are relieved, even in part, his fame 
spreads abroad and he is reckoned to be well-nigh 
a god. Early in the morning he begins his song 
and prayer service in the open air or under the 
shade of a tree. This soon gives place to the 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 207 

preaching" of the Gospel, which continues during 
all the cool part of the day and late into the night, 
interspersed with Gospel hymns, prayer, and care 
of the sick. Sometimes a few only are convinced 
of the truth of the Christian religion, renounce 
their idols, profess their faith, and are baptized by 
the traveling missionary. In some cases, however, 
a few of the leading members of the community 
are converted to God, and then the revival spreads 
until the whole village have turned from their idols 
and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, 
Redeemer, and Friend. In either case, whether 
only a few or many have been converted to God, it 
is necessary to establish here a native Christian 
church, to send a missionary to this village who 
may live among the people, conduct regular reli- 
gious services, and instruct these people further in 
the Christian faith, which they have so recently 
espoused. Of course they are as yet very ignorant 
and know but little concerning God's word or his 
great plan of salvation. If left without further in- 
struction, help, and sympathy, the probabilities are 
that those already converted will be persuaded by 
their heathen friends to return to their heathen be- 
lief and idol worship. A great difficulty confronts 
the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in such cases as this. It is impossible to 
send a thoroughly equipped and qualified mission- 
ary to each village of this sort. The regular 
American missionaries of the parent board and 
also of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society 



208 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

are too few in number to supply such appointments 
as these. They cannot be spared from the more 
important and responsible positions which they fill 
in the great centers. We have many native mis- 
sionary assistants — pastor-teachers, local preachers, 
exhorters, catechists, Bible readers, zenana workers, 
etc. — but all of these are, for the most part, fully 
employed. The policy which has been pursued in 
cases like the above is that of sending to these 
villages a native Christian zenana worker, Bible 
reader, catechist, or pastor-teacher; some one, the 
best available, who is superior in education and 
Christian character to the people for whom he or she 
is to labor. This is the best economy, and it is the 
only thing to be done under existing circumstances ; 
and yet it must be apparent to all that these country 
villages where the people have but recently been 
converted to God and are still without knowledge, 
education in divine things, or strength of Christian 
character — the veriest ''babes in Christ" — sorely 
need the help and instruction of a strong mission- 
ary. What is to be done? Unless the Church 
awaken to the need and send help speedily — more 
missionaries and more money — the cause of God 
must suffer and much of the ground already gained 
will be lost. Who is God's steward? Let him hear 
the call and obey. Perhaps there is no missionary 
work in India which is more interesting, more en- 
grossing, more full of promise, and altogether more 
encouraging than this evangelivStic work. It has, 
however, many hindrances, many difficulties, and 




The New Missionary and her Moonshee 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 211 

many disadvantages. It cannot be carried on dur- 
ing all parts of the year. The intense heat of the 
hot season and the rain of the monsoon render 
these tours hazardous, if not impossible. 

While this evangelistic work is carried on in 
some denominations by evangelists whose work is 
confined to this field, it is not by any means pecul- 
iar to them. The regular missionary of the parent 
board, the assistant missionary of the parent board, 
the zenana missionary of the Woman's Foreign 
Missionary Society, the teacher missionary of the 
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, and the med- 
ical missionary of both boards at times engage in 
this evangelistic work. Indeed, many of them make 
regular and stated evangelistic tours to the country 
villages surrounding their missionary homes. 



MISSIONARIES OF THE WOMAN'S FOREIGN 
MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

Woman's work in India embraces zenana teach- 
ing, Sunday schools, high schools, normal schools, 
boarding schools, orphanages, village or evangel- 
istic work, medical missions (including hospitals, 
dispensaries, training schools for nurses, etc.), and 
every department of Christian work found in Amer- 
ica or in any Christian country. 

There are three distinct classes of missionaries 
sent to India by the Woman's Foreign Missionary 



212 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church — the 
teacher missionary, the zenana missionary, and the 
medical missionary. 

Like the regular male missionary of the parent 
board, each of these lady missionaries must first 
master, more or less perfectly, one of the many 
languages spoken by the peoples of Hindustan. 
To do this one year is usually allowed, during which 
time tlie '* new " missionary makes her home in an 
established mission in some center, where she ren- 
ders whatever assistance she may be able in connec- 
tion with the general work of the mission, mean- 
while pursuing her study of the language which she 
has selected. Of course everything is new and 
strange to her, but the zenana teacher or medical 
missionary with whom she is making her tempo- 
rary home is always willing and glad to do her part 
toward initiating the newcomer, and so she pro- 
gresses, by gradual and easy steps, in her study of 
the vernacular and also in knowledge of regular 
missionary methods. 

After cJiJiota Jiaziri, at about five or six o'clock in 
the morning, the new missionary, rested and looking 
fresh in her thin white dress, may be seen with her 
books and pencil, sitting on the shady side of the house 
in the deep veranda, in company with her moonshee 
(the native Mohammedan who teaches the Hindu- 
stani language), ox pundit (the Brahmin who instructs 
you in Marathee or Gujarathee). vShe is struggling 
with one of these strange foreign tongues, and will 
continue her study for one, two, or three hours. 





A Moonshee (Mohammedan Teacher) 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 215 

We need not disturb lier. Here she spends her 
mornings every day with her teacher until she be- 
come sufficiently proficient in the language of her 
choice to take charge of an independent mission. 



THE MISSIONARY TEACHER OF THE WOMAN'S 
FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

Having passed the required examination in the 
vernacular, our new missionary teacher now takes 
over charge of the school or schools to which she 
has been appointed by the Woman's Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society. It may be that the teacher pre- 
viously in charge has been removed by death, or 
has been obliged to return to America on sick leave, 
and this new missionary has been appointed to fill 
the vacant place. Otherwise it may be that the 
field to which she has been appointed is a new one 
and the school has not yet been organized. In the 
latter case she rents a bungalow (large English resi- 
dence), with a more or less extensive compound 
(grounds) surrounding it. The location of this 
building is a matter of considerable importance, as 
it is to serve the double purpose of a missionary 
home and a Christian girls' boarding school. It 
must not be too far from the native Christian 
church nor too near to the native city. It should 
be, above all things, situated in a healthful part of 
the English town. 

Correct legal papers of agreement must be drawn 



216 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

Up between the native landlord and the missionary 
teacher, otherwise there may be, later on, dispute 
and disagreement as to the monthly rental agreed 
upon between the parties. When feasible, how- 
ever, this property is purchased by the mission, in 
which case any such misunderstanding with native 
landlord is obviated and many advantages are 
gained. In either case the house must now be fur- 
nished. In some parts of India the floors will be 
matted by native men, who bring to the house the 
raw material, reed-grass or split bamboo, braid it 
to fit each particular room, and put it down as fast 
as it is ready. 

Heavy furniture for the house may be rented or 
purchased. Often second-hand furniture is pur- 
chased at very reasonable rates. 

Servants are engaged even before the house is 
furnished. The news is soon spread abroad that an 
American missionary lady is establishing a home, 
and servants come from all directions presenting 
their credentials and seeking service. Domingo, 
the cook, is the first necessity; then come the ''boot- 
lair'' (butler), and the Jiamal, who washes dishes, 
cleans lamps, dusts furniture, attends the door, etc. ; 
the dhohie (laundryman), ayah (chambermaid and 
nurse), the inalee (gardener), and the bihishti (water 
carrier). There is always difiiculty in securing the 
service of competent, trustworthy, and efficient 
servants in the beginning. It requires experience 
to enable one to examine the credentials and to 
judge correctly as to the qualifications of each serv- 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 217 

ant; but soon or late the new missionary will be 
almost certain to find the kind of servants that she 
needs, and such as will remain with her for years. 

When the house is properly furnished and settled, 
and the servants have adjusted themselves to their 
several duties and learned the wishes and methods 
of their new mistress, and all things have been 
made clean and sweet and wholesome, the pupils 
begin to gather from all directions, some even com- 
ing from distant towns and villages. They are the 
children of native Christian parents, and are taken 
into this American Christian home as boarders and 
inmates. Some of the children are orphans, and 
are adopted by the mission. Others are half orphans, 
and are given to the mission by the one surviving 
parent. 

The next necessity which arises is that of engag- 
ing competent native Christian teachers for each of 
the various departments in this growing school. 
These are usually chosen from the advanced pupils 
in the older Methodist girls' boarding schools in 
other parts of India. These Christian teachers may 
be of native (Hindustan or Mohammedan), Eura- 
sian, or English parentage. The majority of these 
assistant teachers are Eurasian and wear English 
dress, but they all live in European style and sit at 
the same table with the American missionary who 
has established the home, organized the school, and 
who presides as mistress, chief teacher, superin- 
tendent, mother, and friend. It devolves upon her 
to decide all matters of importance and to maintain 



218 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

strict discipline among both pupils and teachers. 
She determines at what hour they shall all retire to 
rest at night, at what hour they shall arise in the 
morning, how much time shall be given to recrea- 
tion, how much to study, and what proportion shall 
be devoted to domestic service. All letters coming 
to and going from this home must be first opened 
and read by her. 

The children in this school are required to live in 
native style. There are no chairs or benches in 
the recitation room or rooms. The children all sit 
upon the floor in real oriental style, with legs crossed 
and heads bowed. They are all attired in pure 
white sari, and none of them are allowed to speak 
the English language or to take up English studies 
until after they have passed the matriculation exam- 
ination in their own native tongue. At night they all 
sleep together in a large dormitory, or, if the school 
be large, there may be several of these. In some 
well-established schools these little native children 
are provided with native cots. In many cases they 
are not allowed this luxury, but each little girl wraps 
her sari about her in native style, and lies down to 
rest upon a hay mattress or a folded comfortable on 
the floor. In some schools the children do all, or 
nearly all, the domestic work. They live on native 
food, curry and rice, principally. This they cook 
themselves, the girls taking turns by the day or by 
the week. They laundry their own sari, have en- 
tire charge of the dormitories and schoolrooms, and 
in many cases serve the missionary and her staff of 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 221 

teachers at table, washing the dishes afterward, and 
doing many other domestic services in the mission- 
ary home. 

Of course it is impossible to describe minutely 
the exact kind and amount of work which devolves 
upon pupils in these schools, as each particular 
school has rules peculiar to itself. Indeed, in some 
of the Church of England mission schools, and 
perhaps in those of other denominations also, it is 
not expected of the pupils that they do any do- 
mestic work in the apartments of the missionary or 
of the teachers. In all such schools, however, the 
pupils are taught ordinary cooking and everything 
which pertains to the care of an Indian woman's 
home ; and each little girl is required to do her 
own sewing. In some schools the wheat is pur- 
chased unground and the little girls are required to 
grind it, according to native custom, in the early 
morning, with the native mill, such as was used in 
Bible times. 

In addition to this they have their regular hours 
for study, for recitation, and for play. On the Sab- 
bath day they all march together, headed by their 
teacher or teachers, to the regular services of the 
native Christian church and to Sabbath school. 

In addition to the care and superintendency of 
this home and boarding school by our missionary 
teacher of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, 
there may be several girls' day schools in the native 
city which she superintends and has entire man- 
agement of, such as those we have described above 



222 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

as being tinder the care of the regular male mis- 
sionary of the parent board. 

The policy of keeping the pupils in these native 
Christian girls' boarding schools in native costume 
and requiring them to live in native style is based 
upon two conditions and has two objects in view, 
namely, in cases where these girls continue in 
school a sufficient length of time to qualify them to 
serve as Bible readers, zenana workers, or assistant 
teachers their salary must of necessity be small, and 
in no case can it be sufficient to maintain them in 
comfortable English homes provided with chairs, 
tables, beds, and all the furniture, crockery, pic- 
tures, etc., which go to make up an ordinary Eng- 
lish or American home. It will be, however, suffi- 
ciently large to maintain them comfortably in native 
style. If during school life they are taught to live 
in English style, with all the luxuries of English 
home life, they will become discontented, restive, 
and unhappy under the privations that must be 
theirs in future life. In case these pupils marry, 
before or after the conclusion of their school course, 
the result is the same. They must marry native or 
Eurasian men, who receive a salary far too small 
to maintain them comfortably in English style. 

The second principle upon which this policy is 
based involves, to the Missionary Society, a question 
of economy. The amount of money in the mission- 
ary treasury is not sufficient to educate a large num- 
ber of pupils, if they are to be maintained in English 
style during their school days. There is a very 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 223 

large number of children of native Christian parent- 
age who desire the advantages of Christian educa- 
tion, but whose parents are able to pay little or noth- 
ing for it. There is also a large number of orphans 
or half orphans to whom a Christian boarding 
school is a boon indeed. The question to be con- 
sidered is, simply, is it better, with the means 
available, to receive into our girls' boarding schools 
a small number of pupils, to whom we will supply 
all the comforts (to them luxuries) of a properly 
equipped American girls* boarding school, or, on 
the other hand, shall we maintain these native 
girls in native style — thereby economizing our 
money — and thus make it possible to accommodate 
a very much larger number of pupils? On all ac- 
counts it is deemed wiser to follow the latter policy ; 
and thus our mission schools are crowded with 
pupils, and large numbers of native girls who other- 
wise must remain in ignorance are housed, clothed, 
taught, and fitted for lives of usefulness and 
independence. 



THE ZENANA MISSIONARY OF THE WOMAN'S 
FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

When the zenana missionary has completed her 
term of apprenticeship, and has successfully passed 
the Conference examination in the vernacular, she 
is given over charge of the independent mission to 
which she has been appointed by the Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society. 



224 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

As in the case of our teacher missionary, this 
may be an old, well-established mission left vacant 
by death or removal, or it may be a new field where 
she is expected to establish zenana mission work. 
In the latter case, property suited to the purpose 
which she has in view must be rented or purchased, 
servants engaged, furniture secured, and native or 
Eurasian zenana missionary assistants engaged. 

These assistants are usually called from older 
missions in other parts of India, and are taken, as 
were the assistant teachers, from among the senior 
pupils of our native Christian girls' boarding 
schools. 

To each of these assistant zenana workers a 
stipend of ten rupees per month, with board, is 
considered a good and sufficient salary. In some 
missions, however, a less sum than this is paid and 
in some a larger amount. 

In these zenana missionary homes chJiota Jiaziri is 
usually served at five, five-thirty, or six o'clock in 
the morning, the zenana missionary and her assist- 
ants coming down to the dining room and partaking 
of their little breakfast together as any other meal 
is served. Immediately after the tea and toast the 
missionary and her assistants drive to the native 
city in their missionary wagon or carriage, a large 
covered rig, accommodating six or eight persons. 
Arriving at some central point in the native city, 
or driving up and down through the narrow streets, 
the zenana workers separate, each going to her 
respective zenana home where she is to instruct the 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 225 

zenana women. She is supposed to teacli these 
women knitting, sewing, fancywork, reading, 
writing, spelling, and all the rudiments of an 
ordinary education. Her principal object, how- 
ever, is to teach them the truths of our holy 
Christian religion ; and with this end in view the 
Bible is her chief text-book. She may have several 
pupils in one home. Perhaps the master of the 
house has several wives ; he also may have several 
sons who are married, and his daughters-in-law 
make their home with him. 

All natives of India are bitterly prejudiced 
against Christian missionaries. They believe them 
to be spies and proselyters who have been hired 
by the English or American government to come 
to India for the express purpose of breaking the 
caste of the native and of leading away his wife 
and daughter from their home, from their religious 
belief, from their caste, and from all that they hold 
sacred. He holds the Englishman in awe and 
ostensible respect, as his master and conqueror, 
but at heart he hates and despises him. He knows 
very little about the American, but likes him better 
than the Englishman on general principles, not 
knowing why. 

Nevertheless, he has, after much persuasion, con- 
sented to allow the zenana missionary to visit his 
wives and daughters at stated hours on certain days 
of the week, regularly, for the purpose of teaching 
them. Why does he do this? His women folk 
are too high-caste and too wealthy to be allowed to 



226 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

soil their hands with work. They have servants 
who wait upon them — bathing the person, dressing 
the hair, and making the toilet altogether. They 
cannot read or write. Many of them have never 
seen a paper or a book. They are not allowed to 
go outside of the four great walls which surround 
his courtyard. There is no variety in their lives, 
no change to break the dull monotony. They see 
no strange faces, they hear little or no news, they 
have little to think about except their own miseries 
and ailments. Therefore they naturally grow 
restive, irritable, jealous, and hysterical. They 
think so much about every ache and pain as to 
develop each particular ache and pain into a disease, 
in their distorted imagination. Thus this wealthy 
man's family becomes troublesome. He is tried 
and driven to his wit's end, not knowing what to 
do with or for his women folk. He hears about 
the zenana missionary lady. He fears her, dis- 
trusts her, and perhaps even despises her ; but she 
would teach his wives and his daughters-in-law 
fancy work ; she would amuse and interest them ; 
she would serve as a new toy (they never have any 
toys), and so he decides to allow the zenana mis- 
sionary to make regular visits to his home for the 
purpose of instructing his wives and daughters-in- 
law. Before consenting to visit his home, however, 
our zenana missionary stipulates that she be allowed 
to teach the Bible to the women of the household. 
This, also, he finally agrees to, but takes precaution 
against its consequences. 




A Wealthy High-caste Zenana Lady of Bombay 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 229 

He instructs liis wives and daughters that he has 
invited the zenana missionary lady from America 
or from England to visit them ; that she will teach 
them how to sew, how to knit, how to embroider, 
and how to do all sorts of beautiful fancywork. 
Then he tells them that she is a spy and a pros- 
elyter, and that they must beware of her ; that she 
has been hired by the English or American gov- 
ernment to come to India for the purpose of robbing 
them of their religious beliefs, idols, home, friends, 
and caste. He assures them that he has consented 
for her to visit them in order that they may learn 
the fancywork and because he feels that he can 
trust them. They must not believe anything she 
may tell them about her Christian religion ; they 
must not believe the Bible she reads to them, be- 
cause it is all false and will lead them astray. 
Thus are the minds of the little native women 
poisoned and prejudiced against their zenana mis- 
sionary teacher before they have ever seen her face. 
The day for her visit is arranged for, the hour ap- 
pointed, and all the little women of the native 
household are in readiness for her reception. They 
have donned their best silk garments and wear all 
their jewels. They are in a flutter of excitement 
in anticipation of the strange guest. 

Of course they tender her a most warm and cor- 
dial reception. A native woman is always digni- 
fied, always courteous, the very soul of politeness ; 
she is incapable of rudeness. 

The zenana missionary does little in the way of 



230 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

teaching on the occasion of her first visit ; she must 
first become personally acquainted with her pupils. 
She makes herself generally agreeable, answering 
all their questions, the first of which will probably 
be, '' How old are you? " Then, " Are you mar- 
ried? " If she answer in the negative, they do not 
believe her. It is incredible to the native of India 
that any man or woman should arrive at the age of 
maturity unmarried. If she answer in the affirma- 
tive, the next question is, ' ' How many children have 
you? " All questions are answered kindly. The 
zenana missionary allows her new pupils to examine 
the buttons on her dress, her breastpin, her cuffs, 
and all the details of her European costume. This 
is not considered rude among Indians, and, of 
course, English dress is a great curiosity in such a 
home as this. When she becomes a little better ac- 
quainted some of the younger women may take 
down her hair and toy with it as she goes on with 
her lesson. They are sweet, gentle women, with a 
delicate sense of propriety and a dignity so innate, 
so pretty, and so genuine that even the most refined 
American or English woman is liable to feel some 
strange sense of embarrassment in the presence of 
a company of such charming creatures ; for, indeed, 
they are charming in person and in manner, and as 
you come to know them intimately you will find 
that they are just as sweet i nd just as charming in 
character, except for the strange heathen beliefs and 
prejudices, which are the fault of their birthplace 
and surroundings rather than their own. 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 231 

The new teacher finds her pupils bright, intelli- 
gent, quick to learn, and altogether interesting. 
They ask eager questions and remember readily. 
They have intelligent minds and are able to reason 
out and to answer ; so that the zenana worker must 
be a clever woman in order to give them logical and 
reasonable answers and conclusions to their argu- 
ments. When the heat becomes intense, at half 
past nine, ten, ten-thirty, or eleven o'clock A. M., 
according to the season of the year and the part of 
India where this work is being carried on, our 
zenana missionary workers gather into the mission- 
ary carriage and return to their home, where break- 
fast is in waiting. After breakfast family prayers 
are conducted, the servants attending, as in the case 
of the regular missionary of the parent board. 
Breakfast and family worship over, the zenana mis- 
sionary gives instruction to the servants as to the 
household duties of the day, meets her zenana mis- 
sionary assistants, instructs them as to their various 
tasks, or listens to the report of each. After this she 
repairs to her room for the purpose of letter or re- 
port writing. At one or two o'clock p. m. tiffin is 
served, after which the zenana missionary and her 
assistants may have a Bible reading together or a 
prayer service, or they may take a rest for half an 
hour or so. 

At four, four-thirty ,j^ or five o'clock p. m. the mis- 
sionary carriage again waits in front of our zenana 
missionary bungalozv, and presently the zenana mis- 
sionary and her assistants start out aofain for other 

13 



232 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

zenana homes, where they are to teach, and from 
which they do not return until six, seven, or eight 
o'clock in the evening, according to the season of 
the year and to the part of India in which they are 
living. 

After their return the butler announces, ' ' Khana 
taiyar hat, Miss Sahib " (Dinner is ready. Miss Sir). 
After dinner there may be a church service to at- 
tend, or the zenana missionary may meet her as- 
sistants, hear their reports, and instruct them in the 
best methods of expounding the Holy Scriptures 
and of winning the souls of zenana women to Christ. 

In the beofinnimr the work of the zenana mission- 
ary is very disheartening, but as these earnest, con- 
secrated women persevere, going from house to 
house and spending one, two, or three hours daily 
in each home, teaching these poor, imprisoned, but 
really gentle and lovely women the truths of our 
blessed Gospel, the seed is sown in good ground 
and must ere long bring forth an abundant har- 
vest. The minds of these zenana women are far 
too fertile, their judgment too clear, and their rea- 
soning faculties too bright for them to be long de- 
ceived. The day comes when their judgments are 
convinced of the truth of the Christian religion, and 
when this at length happens there is no more rest 
for the little woman until she has taken up her cross, 
left all, and followed Christ. It means much for 
her to do this, but she has the courage of her con- 
victions. Her mind is no sooner convinced than 
her heart responds, and she soon becomes willing 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 233 

to sacrifice all that she may gain Christ. She an- 
nounces to her husband and family the fact that she 
has espoused the cause of her Lord Jesus Christ and 
fully believes in the Christian religion, and wishes 
to become a Christian herself. It is a bold thing 
for her to make such an announcement in her 
heathen home. The zenana missionary teacher is 
now advised that her visits must be discontinued. 
The little pupil is locked up in a small, dark room 
and is scourged with many stripes daily in the hope 
that she will soon renounce her new faith and de- 
clare her intention of returning to the faith of her 
family. This, however, she does not do. She is 
firm. She bears her torture with fortitude, in silence, 
and with the utmost patience receives all harsh 
words and cruel treatment. She is, perhaps, half 
starved and obliged to suffer unutterable tortures. 
Alone, without the zenana missionary teacher, who 
has come to be her truest friend, without the privi- 
lege of making known her sufferings to any sympa- 
thizing soul, she v/eeps and prays in her dark and 
solitary room. Finally, however, she makes her 
escape, or perhaps is beaten, kicked, and thrust out 
into the street at the dead of night because she will 
not yield. She is a stranger in the outside world. 
She never before stood on the street of a city out- 
side the high walls of her husband's house. All 
seems strange to her, and she is timid and alarmed. 
At length, however, in her fear and desperation, she 
inquires of some passing woman the way to the mis- 
sionary bungalow. Everybody knows where it is. 



234 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

the zenana missionary home, and she is soon di- 
rected aright. With fear and trembling she makes 
her way to the home of her teacher friend. At last 
she stands at the door, her heart throbbing with 
mingled feelings of fear and joy. Timidly she 
knocks, and is ushered into the presence of her 
teacher, at whose feet she falls, convulsed with 
sobs. She soon tells her story, and is allowed to 
remain in the missionary home, at least for the 
present. Perhaps her friends will come for her 
within a few hours and tear her away by force, only 
to renew their beatings and starvation, or perhaps 
they will allow her to remain with the zenana mis- 
sionary, threatening her life if she should ever re- 
turn to her home or be found seeking an interview 
with any member of her husband's family. If she 
be a mother, she can never see her children again. 
Her family consider that she has disgraced them 
all, broken her caste, and ruined herself and them. 
In the Church of England Zenana Missionary 
Home, of Krishnagar, Bengal, there are ten, 
twelve, or more of these women, who have either 
been violently driven from their homes in the man- 
ner above described or who have made their escape 
by stealth, and who are now glad to labor in any 
way to maintain themselves while they study the 
blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ, with the hope that 
some day they may be able to go to the women of 
their own caste and instruct them in the blessed re- 
ligion which they have espoused and for which they 
have suffered so much and forsaken all else. 




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HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 237 

I was in that home when one of these little 
women, who had been separated from her three 
children for a period of three or four years, was per- 
mitted to meet her eldest son. During all these 
years she had never seen any member of her fam- 
ily, except her father, who paid her occasional 
visits. Her mother-heart longed for her children, 
and whenever her father came to see her she had 
begged him to bring her children that she might 
look into their faces once again. Her father in- 
variably refused this request, but at length he did 
bring her eldest son, and I had the privilege of wit- 
nessing that sad, glad meeting. The little woman 
was too overjoyed for words. She pressed her first- 
born to her heart and wept and wept until everybody 
present was in tears. Her father allowed the 
son to remain with his mother for one half hour 
only, having previously stipulated that not a word 
should be spoken in regard to the Christian religion. 
At the expiration of the half hour the parting came', 
and it was so sad and full of pain to both parties 
that we could not help doubting whether it were not 
better for her never to see her son rather than to see 
him for so short a time and under such restrictions. 

Do not suppose from the above that the zenana 
missionary seeks to break up the home of the native 
zenana woman, or that she endeavors by any means 
to induce her to forsake home and family. On 
the contrary, the zenana missionary makes use of 
every effort in her power, every argument and every 
influence she possesses, to bring about harmony be- 



238 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

tween the zenana woman who has declared her faith 
in the Christian religion and her heathen family, and 
to establish peace in the zenana home. Failing in 
this, when the heathen parents, husband, and friends 
of the little woman, feeling outraged and disgraced 
by her change of faith, torture, beat, and starve her 
until her life is imperiled, and she, in her despera- 
tion, makes her escape from her place of torture and 
imprisonment and flees for refuge to the missionary 
home, or is thrust out from her home violently, 
perhaps in the dead of night, and afterward finds 
her way to the zenana missionary bimgalow; in such 
cases as these the missionary extends to her not 
only sympathy and words of advice, comfort, and 
tenderness, but gladly gives her the shelter and 
protection which she so much needs. 



THE MEDICAL MISSIONARY OF THE WOMAN'S 
FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

Like the teacher and the zenana missionary, the 
medical missionary of the Woman's Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society must serve as an apprentice in some 
well-established medical mission for a year or more, 
studying the native language, acquainting herself 
with'the methods of medical mission work, and be- 
coming familiar with the diseases peculiar to India 
and with their treatment. 

At the expiration of this time, having passed the 
required Conference examinations, she is appointed 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 239 

to an independent medical mission, where, perliaps, 
she takes over charge of a missionary hospital for 
women and children, a missionary dispensary for 
women and children, and a medical missionary 
training school for nurses; or it may be, as in 
the case of the teacher and zenana missionaries, 
that there is a new field, and the hospital, dispen- 
sary, and training school for nurses are to be 
started, organized, and established by herself. In 
the latter case, after the property for the medical 
mission has been selected and rented or purchased, 
the house or houses furnished, the servants en- 
gaged, and all things put in order, native and Eura- 
sian women, old and young, gather from all direc- 
tions, applying to be received as student nurses in 
this medical missionary training school. It re- 
quires considerable tact, skill, and judgment to 
discriminate wisely between these applicants, and 
to receive into the school only the most intelligent 
and trustworthy — such as will develop into efficient 
and reliable medical assistants. 

These student nurses, for the most part, are 
wholly without education. Some of them, perhaps, 
are native midwives, versed in all the barbarous 
treatments and remedial agents employed by the 
unlettered heathen doctors in cases of confinement 
as well as in medical and surgical cases. To dis- 
abuse their ignorant, prejudiced, and superstitious 
minds of all the errors already learned is a stupen- 
dous task, and yet it is more important that these 
midwives be " unlearned " the false principles which 



240 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

they have acquired, and taught scientific and proper 
treatment, than that others, who make no profes- 
sion of skill in the treatment of diseases or in the 
management of confinement cases, be instructed. 
For the latter, making no pretensions to knowledge 
or skill, are harmless, while the native midwife is 
a most dangerous individual, not only inflicting un- 
utterable torture upon the poor victims who are 
intrusted to her care, but often and often causing 
premature death both to mother and child through 
her barbarous and cruel practices. 

Our medical missionary is fortunate if she have 
an associate medical missionary to share her labors 
and responsibilities, or even a properly trained and 
efficient nurse. Without these her burdens are 
heavy indeed. She has the entire charge of her 
missionary home, hospital, dispensary, and training 
school for nurses. The native servants are not 
taught antiseptic measures and know nothing about 
medical and surgical cleanliness. The medical mis- 
sionary, therefore, must carefully guard every pa- 
tient under her charge, else contagion, infection, 
septic fever, puerperal fever, cholera, smallpox, 
or leprosy may develop in the wards of her hos- 
pital, and run such a violent course as to necessitate 
the closing up of the institution. 

Her ignorant heathen nurses in training, with no 
principles of honor or morality to shield them from 
temptation, must be guarded and shielded and 
watched over by the medical missionary with the 
utmost and most unremitting care. They must, of 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 241 

course, receive daily instruction. They cannot 
read, and if they are to become even moderately 
efficient, trustworthy nurses, they must be taught 
daily, minutely, and continuously by word of 
mouth. This involves almost incessant toil on the 
part of our medical missionary, to say nothing of 
the patients in the hospital, in the office, and in the 
dispensary, whose health and whose lives are almost 
wholly dependent upon her skill, wisdom, and care- 
ful management. If she be not on her guard, 
acutely watchful, and intensely vigilant, some native 
midwife, now a student nurse in her school, will 
administer some fatal remedy to one of her patients 
— perhaps an overdose of laudanum to a wee infant 
— or she will practice some barbarous cruelty upon 
a patient in labor, or will poison the minds of her 
high-caste native patients toward her. Some sus- 
picion as to the medicine, instruments, or medical 
methods of the institution will arise, and increase 
until a veritable panic occur, and perhaps all the 
patients withdraw from the hospital in a single 
hour. 

The free missionary dispensary claims a certain 
proportion of the medical missionary's time, 
strength, and thought. Certain hours in each day 
are given to this work. There she receives, exam- 
ines, and treats fifty, eighty, or even one or two 
hundred patients daily, according to the age of her 
establishment, size of the city, etc. 

No precaution is taken by the natives of India 
against contagion, and, in spite of all efforts on the 



242 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

part of the medical missionary to avoid the con- 
sequences of such a condition, cases of smallpox, 
leprosy, and cholera are often brought to her dis- 
pensary for treatment. 

Other missionaries may so adjust their hours of 
work as to be indoors and under the piuikaJi during 
the intense heat of the midday sun ; the medical 
missionary, however, has no choice. She must go 
when she is called. It may be that at the noon 
hour she will be summoned to the sick couch of a 
high-caste or low-caste, rich or poor, native woman, 
who resides in the very heart of the native city. 
She dons her pith helmet, takes a huge umbrella 
lined with green and covered with white muslin, 
and drives in her close carriage to the home of the 
sufferer. The native streets are very narrow, the 
gutters on either side open, the rays of the sun in- 
tolerable, and the stench oppressive; one's life is 
imperiled by such exposure. Perhaps she must 
remain in the close, dark, small apartment of her 
patient during all the long hours of that hot summer 
day. Perhaps she is obliged to remain far into the 
night, toiling on without food or rest, struggling to 
maintain the life of her patient. Meanwhile she is 
anxious and troubled as to the work at home. She 
does not know what mischief may be done during 
her absence. Perhaps she returns in the early 
morning. She must now bathe and change her ap- 
parel, to avoid any possibility of contagion to her 
patients and nurses. It is then time for chhota 
haziri, and immediately after this the numerous 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 243 

duties of her busy life press in upon her. It is im- 
possible for her to take the rest so sorely needed, 
nor is it certain that she will have an opportunity 
to retire to rest on the following night. Indeed, it 
often happens that two or three such nights succeed 
one another. 

In the office, in the hospital, and in the dispen- 
saries, while the medical missionary is examining 
patients, prescribing for them, administering treat- 
ment, or performing operations, the other patients 
who have gathered in the reception room and who 
are awaiting their turn are being entertained by 
one of the native Christian nurses or Bible women, 
as she reads and expounds the Holy Scriptures, 
prays, and sings; and each one, as she passes in- 
to the consulting room, receives a tract or a por- 
tion of the New Testament in her own native 
tongue. 

Thus are medical and mission work carried on 
together, the medical serving as a means whereby 
the missionary may gain access to the hearts, homes, 
sympathies^ and confidence of the natives. The 
native of India is not prejudiced against lady phy- 
sicians, though he is bitterly prejudiced against 
missionaries. It seems never to have dawned upon 
the native understanding that a woman may be 
both a physician and a missionary. In his time of 
need, therefore, when wife, mother, daughter, or 
young son is ill and suffering, perhaps nigh unto 
death, he sends with all speed for the medical 
woman ; and not until she has won his respect, con- 



244 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

fidence, and perhaps affection does he realize that 
his physician is also a missionary. 

When the work of the medical missionary is well 
established, and she has spent some years in India, 
she will be almost certain to establish several mis- 
sionary dispensaries in the native city. These she 
will visit herself as often as possible, and always 
manage and superintend, but for the most part they 
will be under the daily care and direction of her 
senior student nurses. The medical missionary 
must be a woman of superior ability, capable of 
managing a variety of interests at one time and a 
large number of people. 

In addition to having the entire charge, manage- 
ment, and superintendency of a large missionary 
home and center, a missionary hospital for women 
and children, one, two, three, or more missionary dis- 
pensaries for women and children in the native 
city, she is also a medical missionary teacher, hav- 
ing a class of ignorant, untutored native women in 
her home, to whom she must give medical and 
nurse lectures and quizzes every day, besides an 
occasional oral examination. She is also a private 
practitioner of medicine, having a more or less ex- 
tensive office and out practice ; and, in addition to 
all this, she can never forget that she is pre- 
emJnently and above all things a missionary. In 
her home, in her hospital, in her dispensaries, in 
her office, among her student nurses, and in the 
bedchamber of her out-patients she is at once the 
friend, the teacher, the physician, and the mission- 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 245 

ary, pointing pupils and patients to * ' the Lamb of 
God, which taketh away the sin of the world." 
Kneeling in prayer on the ground floor in the little 
dark apartment of some poor patient, quoting a pas- 
sage of Scripture to some suffering woman, singing 
a hymn in the death chamber, and thus following 
in the footsteps of the great First Medical Mission- 
ary, who left his Father's throne and came to earth 
*' to seek and to save that which was lost," going 
about healing all manner of diseases, teaching and 
preaching the Gospel unto the poor. 

In some cases, where the mission is young and 
weak, the school, zenana, and medical work are 
consolidated, forming one only, instead of three in- 
dependent missions. In other cases, where the mis- 
sion is old and well established, there may be two 
or three associate zenana missionaries, together 
with a large number of native and Eurasian assist- 
ant zenana workers, in connection with one zenana 
mission, two or three associate missionary teachers 
in one missionary school, besides a large staff of 
native and Eurasian assistant missionary teachers 
and two or three associate medical missionaries in 
connection with one medical mission, also a large 
and efficient staff of native and Eurasian hospital 
assistants and student nurses. 

The author has had the privilege of enjoying the 
hospitality of several missionary homes, such as are 
described in the foregoing pages. She was one of 
the first inmates, a guest and boarder, in the Zenana 
Mission of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society 



246 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

in Bombay, and knew something of the burdens, 
struggles, anxieties, and almost innumerable diffi- 
culties which confronted her dear friend, Miss S. 
De Line, the zenana missionary of the Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society, in her efforts to estab- 
lish a permanent zenana mission in that great city, 
and to do it in such a manner as would prove 
the greatest possible success and a blessing to India. 
She was intimately familiar with the everyday home 
life and labors of the two beautiful and noble women, 
Miss Alice Aitken and Miss Nellie Reddies, of the 
Normal School Instruction Society of Lahore, Pun- 
jab. She was a patient in St. Catherine's Hospital 
of the Medical Mission of the Church Missionary 
Society of Amritsar, Punjab, where the peerless 
trio, the Misses Sarah Hewlett, E. S. Bartlett, and 
A. Sharp, preside with such grace, womanly dig- 
nity and strength, carrying on a most extensive 
medical mission, comprising a hospital, several mis- 
sionary dispensaries in the native city, and an 
important medical missionary training school for 
nurses. She was also a guest during a long season 
of convalescence in the Church of England Zenana 
Mission House of Krishnagar, Bengal, where Miss 
Tharp (now Mrs. Tharp Gill) and Miss Eleanor M. 
Sampson reigned queens, as they truly are, in a 
home which was in every respect a perfect Chris- 
tian home and missionary center. She knows 
whereof she speaks, therefore, when she affirms 
that there are no homes anywhere to be found 
which excel the missionary home in the observance 



HEROES AND HEROINES OF ZION 247 

of regular, methodical, systematic order in the care- 
ful husbanding of time, in mutual kindness and 
consideration each for the other — ''in honor pre- 
ferring one another." Than missionaries of the 
Gospel there can be no Christians more self-for- 
getting, self-sacrificing, devout, earnest, zealous, 
forbearing, always abounding in good works, de- 
voted to the cause of the Master, efficient in his 
service, and intelligently consecrated in all their 
lives — whose '* works do follow them." 
Pray for the heroes and heroines of Zion ! 



CONCLUSION 



God's own ambassadors and yours 

Have tried each pass, 

But may not enter where 

The money king holds sway. 

Not many mighty ones are called, 

Not many wise ; so are we taught 

In God's own blessed word. 

The poor must have the Gospel 

Preached to them. 

The Lord hath chosen them. 

The weak, the things of naught, 

To bring to naught the things that are. 

The lowly ones are chosen first, 

And grow to stalwart sons and 

Daughters of the living God. 

He sends them forth to lift his 

Banner high — to sound abroad 

The triumphs of their risen Lord — 

Full seven times to blow the trump 

Of God and shout at his command : 

When, lo ! the prison walls 



248 WITHIN THE PURDAH 

Shall fall and crumble into dust, 
As if by fire consumed. 
And do you look with 
Longing eye and eager heart 
To see this glad fruition ? 
Then give with cheerful hand 
From out your hoarded store, 
And watch and pray the more. 
For God will surely hear 
And answer prayer. 

September 29, 1897. 



THE END. 



P6fil 9TA0N 



